A YORKSHIRE college has been awarded a prestigious national award for its leadership in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
Staff at New Collaborative Learning Trust, which has campuses in Pontefract, Doncaster and Bradford, gained the Leaders in Diversity accreditation from the National Centre for Diversity.
The accreditation, which recognises excellence in EDI, is a rigorous assessment based on various criteria, including staff interviews and customer surveys. Working with the National Centre for Diversity means New Collaborative Learning Trust gained national recognition for excellence in EDI.
The team from New Collaborative Learning Trust were praised for their achievement and tangible commitment that demonstrates it is not only committed to building a culture of fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement (FREDIE), but also shows that it can evidence this in a practical way.
Solat Chaudhry, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Diversity, commented:
“We are delighted that New Collaborative Learning Trust have achieved the highly sought-after Leaders in Diversity Award, and I would like to extend our congratulations to their leaders, staff and learners on their success to date.
Through completion of staff engagement activities and a review of activities, organisations that achieve the Standard have shown that they have an approach to FREDIE that is structured, planned and embedded at the heart of what they do in terms of strategy, leadership, recruitment, recognition and positively influencing their supply chain.”
The Leaders in Diversity Award is an all-encompassing approach to the effective management of equality, diversity and inclusion. It enables organisations to take a structured and planned approach to embedding equality and diversity at the heart of what they do and provides a simple framework in which to do so.
Lauren Walker, Director of Human Resources, said:
“As New College Pontefract, we held the Leaders in Diversity Award for a number of years and I am really pleased that we have now been successful in replicating this good practice and achieving the standard as New Collaborative Learning Trust. This demonstrates our deep commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion across all our colleges and as fundamental core values of our Trust.”
New Collaborative Learning Trust already has good consultation practice in place and will continue to develop this as part of their on-going action plans.
“The Leaders in Diversity standard has helped New Collaborative Learning Trust to focus on developing real measurable change and has set us on a strong journey towards becoming a leader in this area,” Lauren Walker said.
Solat Chaudhry, Chief Executive added:
“By engaging wholeheartedly with the Leaders in Diversity programme, they have demonstrated a real and tangible commitment to FREDIE and to continuous improvement in this area.
We are confident that staff and students at New Collaborative Learning Trust will continue to work on improving and adapting and look forward to working with them in years to come.”
