The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) sends its congratulations to three fire and rescue services who featured in the Stonewall Top 100 Employers list.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services ranked alongside fellow local government organizations such as Sussex Police as well as household names such as Unilever, Sky, and Aviva.
Public sector organization
The Stonewall Top 100 Employers list is compiled from the Workplace Equality Index – the benchmarking tool for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. This year 403 employers volunteered to take part in the survey, which involves employees responding to a pre-set staff feedback questionnaire.
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service ranked 2nd on the list, becoming the highest-ranking public sector organization and emergency service to feature. Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service ranked 86th on the list, with Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service ranked at 93rd. All three services are shown to have significantly invested in LGBTQ+ inclusion.
More inclusive workplaces
Inclusion and diversity is a top priority for the NFCC, whilst it is recognized there is still much work to do"
Aidan Bartley, NFCC EDI Project Manager said: “This is such a fantastic achievement for all three services and denotes a real shift for the fire and rescue sector in striving to put inclusion at the center of our workplaces.”
“Inclusion and diversity is a top priority for the NFCC, whilst it is recognized there is still much work to do, the EDI project and its culminating hub of guidance and tools have been developed by FRSs for FRSs to support their journey to becoming more inclusive workplaces.” Due to its launch in spring, the NFCC EDI Hub has been established to look at ways of working across the sector, delivering best practice examples and shared learning.
External professional organizations
The suite of Equality of Access to Employment and Services documents, which form part of the EDI Hub, are the first of their kind for the fire and rescue sector. Designed in consultation with external professional organizations, they provide a range of information about different groups of people and actions which services can take to make employment and services more accessible to diverse groups within our communities.
Another area of work within the NFCC EDI Project is Lunch and Learn sessions. Guest speakers join these sessions to talk of often personal experiences to an array of EDI-related topics, including Neurodiversity, Trans visibility, and Being part of the LGBT+ community. The NFCC continues to work in collaboration with fire and rescue services to shape quality, sector-endorsed tools, and guidance to ensure diversity and inclusion are part of everything they do.