NELFT has scooped an award at this year’s ENEI Awards ceremony. The Trust won the award for the ‘Employee Network Group 2017 – Public Sector’ at the event held on Tuesday July 11 at the Law Society in London. The Trust was up against other NHS Trusts and organisations from the Fire Service and social housing.

The Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion awards ceremony was opened by the Vice President of the Law Society of England and Wales, Christina Blacklaws and the keynote speaker was David Isaac, Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Council. To collect the award on behalf of NELFT were Wellington Makala, Deputy Director of Acute Mental Health and BME Ambassador, and Harjit K Bansal, Equality and Diversity Manager.

The ENEI Annual Awards recognise the commitment of organisations to achieving diverse and inclusive workplaces, celebrating the teams and individuals who really are making a difference.

NELFT was the winner for the Employee Network Group of the Year (Public Sector) for taking steps to promote equality and diversity for black and ethnic minority staff with the implementation of its ethnic minority staff network strategy. The sponsor of the award (CA Technologies) stated that NELFT was an exemplar in making change when the vision of the organisation is embedded from the top and filters at every level within the organisation.

Harjit K Bansal said: “This award has not only recognised the hard work of the Ethnic Minority Ambassadors in the local ICDs, but the passion and commitment of the Ethnic Minority Network staff members, who constantly encourage us to go over and beyond the strategy.

“The dream for the Ethnic Minority Staff Network is to have fair and transparent processes in place which become the norm, so that we no longer need a strategy!”

As well as the ENEI award win, NELFT has also been shortlisted for the 2017 National Diversity Awards which take place at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral on Friday September 8.

On the evening, NELFT also received support via Twitter from key figures across the NHS, with messages of congratulations being sent by Lord Crisp (former-Chief Executive of the NHS), Yvonne Coghil (Director, Workforce Race Equality Standard Implementation), and Roger Kline (Director, Workforce Race Equality Standard Research and Engagement). These can be seen below:

Hear what NELFT Chief Executive John Brouder had to say about the award win and what it means for the trust.

For information about the Ethnic Minority Network, or all of the NELFT staff networks, please visit the NELFT website at: www.nelft.nhs.uk/about-us-staff-networks