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Celebrating Pride 2024 – a message from Melissa Sterling, Head of Wellness and Belonging at H&B

1 June 2024

At H&B, wellness and belonging are fundamental to our business and to our colleagues. We believe in the power of inclusivity and celebrating diversity in all its forms.

That’s why, as we step into Pride 2024, I feel very proud to share more about the initiatives and partnerships we’ve developed to support our LGBTQ+ colleagues, advocating for equality, and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

  • In 2023, we formed the Rainbow Wave Colleague Network – made up of 10 passionate colleagues and who meet regularly and champion key calendar dates and events all year round, raise LGBTQ+ education and awareness, and develop tools to support our teams.
  • So far this financial year, Rainbow Wave produced their first Guide to supporting Trans Colleagues during Trans Awareness week in November 2023 to support line managers, and trans colleagues in the business with education, and practicalities around uniform and systems. 
  • We’re Stonewall corporate members, showing our support to the community and working with their advisors on continually evolving our LGBTQ+ friendly workplace. 
  • We worked with Dublin pride to deliver two LGBTQ+ workshops to our colleagues on allyship and gender identity. 
  • We shared important stories from our brave colleagues to support and inspire others, including Coming out stories during National Coming Out day, Trans awareness story as well as sharing Education on gay slang language, Polari  
  • We have LGBTQ+ eLearning which is available to all our colleagues on our learning management system “the Hive”.
  • This year, we were recognised as an 'Includability Committed Employer'.
  • We attended our first corporate pride marches last year in 2023, and this year the Rainbow Wave have stepped it up with EPIC Pride Month activity planned as well as attending three vibrant external parades.

We are dedicated to a culture at H&B where everyone feels seen, valued, and supported. Pride month isn’t just about waving a rainbow flag, or to celebrate the good work that has been done so far, but it’s a continual reminder of a movement towards a more inclusive future for everyone.