Race Equality Matters is pleased to announce that Vale of Glamorgan have been awarded Bronze Trailblazer status!

Vale of Glamorgan have been recognised as an organisation committed to tackling race inequality because their application demonstrated clear action had been taken through the implementation of safe spaces and the inclusion of their diverse networks. There was a clear consideration towards vulnerability and a demonstration of creating psychological safety within their organisation. Vale of Glamorgan have been recognised and celebrated as an organisation that is committed to achieving racial equality in the workplace. Their action was focussed and was described by the judges as ‘clear’ collaborative and ‘data focused ‘ 100% judges voted that their application had demonstrated evidence of action taken in tackling race inequality and 89.9% voted for Vale of Glamorgan to receive the status. 

Their commitment and dedication towards making an impact makes them a trailblazer for change.

Actions and Initiatives

Commitment to Data

Vale of Glamorgan have demonstrated a commitment to transparency and accountability. They report annually on ethnically diverse employee data in their Annual Equality Monitoring Report as well as in various pay related and workforce planning reports. They publish this information on their website, so colleagues have access. In 2022 they ran a staff survey and were committed to analysing the data by protected characteristics, including race and ethnicity and used external benchmarks which allowed them to monitor progress and to compare themselves with other sectors. Judges believed this showed a commitment to inclusion and using data to create meaningful change.

Diverse Network

Vale of Glamorgan have regular contact and communication with colleagues in HR and Equalities to ensure that they are aligning their work with engagement and organisational wide communication that supports their objectives. There is a newly re-established communications and engagement subgroup that includes members of Diverse which helps ensure this takes place. Vale Of Glamorgan have used constant liaison with the Diverse Chair and Deputy Chairs to identify suitable trainers and content for mandatory race awareness training that they will look to implement across the organisation and they also liaise to explore how to raise the profile of ethnically diverse colleagues to create meaningful visibility. Vale of Glamorgan are committed to participating and creating events that celebrate inclusion and diversity such as REW. Judges noted from the feedback that these events had been positively received and endorsed by colleagues. 

They have also incorporated Safe space, #Mynameis and The Big Promise which was made by their Chief Executive which showed leadership leading by example. The judges commented that they felt this application portrayed a very ‘robust and comprehensive capability that showed an improvement to race equality with a plethora of initiatives.’

Staff Awards

Vale of Glamorgan also introduced a new category in Staff Awards for ‘Celebrating Diversity and Engagement. Their award recognises those who champion equality, diversity, and inclusion across the organisations and welcome nominations for individual staff members or teams who promote equality, diversity and inclusion, as well as wider engagement across the organisation. 

Impact and Ethnically diverse Staff Endorsement 

• They have regular contact and communication with colleagues in HR and Equalities to ensure that they are aligning their work with engagements and communication that supports their objectives
• There is a newly re-established communications and engagement subgroup that includes members from ethnically diverse background to ensure voices are being heard  
• Their Diverse Network are exploring how they can raise the profile of their ethnically diverse colleagues
• They are focussed on  communication processes that raise awareness of events that all colleagues can participate in
• Ethnically diverse colleagues have a higher level of meaningful involvement and exposure with decision making within the organisation
• Psychological safety is paramount particularly during safe space conversations and after care is available 
• They have committed to #Mynameis, safe space and Big Promise 
• Leadership are actively involved in demonstrating change

Feedback from an Ethnically Diverse Panel

The judges felt this application was data focused with informed initiatives and lots of staff engagement which has been supported by surveys they included to measure progress. Vale of Glamorgan’s Trailblazer application was considered by judges to show Strong and creative collaboration. Their application demonstrated the promotion of real inclusion and belonging through their Network, comms,  safe space and the #MyNameIs campaign. Judges felt the organisation established a strong communication and execution of initiatives as well as a dedication to high impact which was also represented in the broad plans they have for the future.

Next steps…

Looking to the future, Vale of Glamorgan seeks to (among other actions):

• Participate in a variety of events  that celebrate inclusivity and diversity  such as REW and National Inclusion Week and Black History Month 
• They will also continue to pursue initiatives such as Safe Space meetings, with the ongoing promotion of #MyNamels, and explore the possibility of holding Tea Break sessions. 
• They are also piloting race awareness training to be rolled out as a mandatory training programme across the organisation 
• They will be exploring how they can work with the newly elected Equalities Champion  who has lived experience). Which includes working on the Windrush project
• They will be reviewing the process for reporting racist incidents to make it more accessible and simpler to report.
• They are also working on analysing their staff wellbeing survey by protected characteristic including by race and ethnicity.

Follow Vale of Glamorgan’s Lead: Become a Trailblazer

If your organisation is driving change for Race Equality and you can demonstrate impact, endorsement from ethnic background employees and share future plans; register your interest for the next round of trailblazers.