Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) staff network holds 2019 celebration event
The BAME Staff Network held their annual celebration event on Tuesday 15 October 2019 in the large conference room at Fieldhead. The event, open to all from the Trust, focused on celebrating the achievements from the past year and recognising the work the network are doing to make the Trust a great place to work.
The celebration event was kicked off with a tasty lunch and networking session, giving the chance for attendees to meet the Staff Network steering group and members. This set the platform for the event to begin with a welcome address from our chief executive Rob Webster, who emphasised the importance of the network and the positive contribution it brings to making the Trust a great place to work.
Staff Network chair, Cherill Watterston thereafter proceeded to provide an update on ‘Building Leadership for Inclusion’ (BLFI), reciprocal mentoring, race forwards, students, Mental Health Act committee, equality and inclusion forum and the Lunch and Chat sessions.
The first guest speaker, Beverley Powell from the Yorkshire and Humber Leadership Academy delivered a presentation on ‘Leadership Legacy’, with a focus on the vision of what kind of legacy you would like to leave behind.
The second guest speaker was a former service user, Yakub Rawat, who wanted to share his experiences with dealing with a mental health illnesses whilst being from a BAME background. He spoke about the real difference and impact having a BAME representative workforce from a similar community and background, can make to service users, their families and their recovery.
This was followed by an update by Claire Hartland on Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES) and the data gathered by our Trust.
The third guest speaker, Jackie Walumbe from Oxford University talked about how ‘Difference Matters’ and the importance of being different. Jackie showcased powerful messages and examples about how we can work together to change the narrative and ideology.
Staff Network vice chair, Mohammad Navsarka and line manager Claire Girvan shared his story and journey through the Trust, being involved with the network and how the network has supported his development.
The event was closed by Trust chair, Angela Monaghan who praised the work being done by the Network and ended with the promise of continuing to work closely together to keep on improving, have the key conversations and building on what’s in place, to make our Trust an even greater place to work.
The BAME staff network would like to thank everyone who attended. If you would like to find out more about the network, follow our Twitter account – @BAME_SWYPFT or get in touch by emailing BAMEStaff.Network@swyt.nhs.uk. Stay tuned for more updates and events coming soon!
View a gallery of photos from the day:
