Meet The Shortlist: Diversity And Inclusion Award
The Diversity and Inclusion Award was introduced for 2018 with the aim of celebrating and highlighting the very best examples of work across the industry that promotes the diversity and inclusion agenda, whilst also contributing to business performance.
The BT Sport Industry Awards 2018 shortlist includes Arena Racing Company’s The Silk Series; Everton in the Community; the World Para Athletics Championships at London 2017; Parallel London; Premiership Rugby’s Accessibility Commitment; SSE Wildcats’ The FA Girls’ Football Centres; and UEFA’s #EqualGame campaign.
THE SILK SERIES
The Silk Series was created to showcase the talent of female jockeys and help to raise awareness of lack of gender diversity amongst jockeys in British horseracing, after a study into gender diversity in the industry highlighted the failure for many women to progress as jockeys.
Arena Racing Company, the largest racecourse operator in the UK, wanted to use their racecourses as a platform to raise awareness of this issue, change attitudes in the sport and improve the careers of current and future female jockeys.
“We hope the judges saw that we were using our position in racing to help address a really important issue for the sport which is being much debated at the moment,” explained Susannah Gill, director of public affairs at Arena Racing Company. “Horseracing is built of the platform of equality between the sexes, however in practice that is not seen to play out in terms of the opportunities afforded to female jockeys.
“The Silk Series is tackling that issue head on which we believe is why it has been so well received within the sport, while being a beautifully straight forward concept that can be explained to people who are not horseracing aficionados.”
Our #BTSIA has been enjoying watching Georgia Cox win the #SilkSeries Final at @DoncasterRaces on @AtTheRaces!
Thanks, @SportIndustry!https://t.co/FJYVzrphXl pic.twitter.com/jYDe8wZzIT
— The Silk Series (@SilkSeries) February 8, 2018
EVERTON IN THE COMMUNITY
Everton Football Club and its official charity, Everton in the Community, use the power of sport to educate and champion equality matters to offer inclusive access to the best facilities and opportunities possible.
Professor Denise Barrett Baxendale, director and deputy CEO of Everton Football Club, said: “It was fantastic to be shortlisted for this award and have the opportunity to further highlight the positive work that our colleagues and partners do across the Everton Family.
“Positively encouraging equality and diversity is who we are and what we do. It is part of our DNA.”
Baxendale, who is also executive chair of Everton in the Community, added: “We worked tirelessly with our Stadium Operations team, Everton Disabled Supporters Association, Everton Fans’ Forum and governing bodies to undertake work within Goodison Park to make the stadium more accessible and offer a range of more expansive viewing options for disabled fans.
“We can learn from what others are doing and will continue to work collaboratively with our other Premier League clubs, fans and community to continue our equality, diversity and inclusion journey.”
LONDON 2017 – THE WORLD PARA ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The London 2017 edition of the World Para Athletics Championships saw 1,166 athletes from 88 nations descend on the capital for an event that promoted diversity and inclusion throughout. Held in the same city in the same year as the IAAF World Championships for the first time, the athletes took centre stage with more than 100,000 children attending as part of the official schools programme.
“The World Para Athletics Championships London 2017 were a tremendous success and we are honoured that is continuing to be recognised as such,” said Niels de Vos, championship director at British Athletics.
“British Athletics are proud to have led the way for Para athletics through the integration of events into its major-event portfolio in recent years. The 2018 indoor season saw para athletes included in both of our events and this will continue in the summer and beyond.”
PARALLEL LONDON
Parallel London combines a series of multi-distance fun runs for all ages and abilities with a fully accessible festival, and is designed to remove barriers such as distance and time. This enables more people with disabilities to challenge themselves by getting active and creating a rich diversity of participants all running, walking or pushing together. This spirit of inclusion is enshrined in the event slogan: ‘start together, finish whenever’.
On the new aspects of the event, Andrew Douglass, founder and chief executive of innovision, organisers of Parallel London, explained: “Our Super Sensory 1K actively encourages greater inclusion for people with Profound Multiple Learning Difficulties, Special Education Needs and others who respond differently to their environments; such as autism. We have also demonstrated that by making an event fully inclusive more people with disabilities will get active and challenge themselves.”
“To be shortlisted validated the amazing support of all our participants, charity partners, sponsors, volunteers, ambassadors and corporate teams who believed in our event,” added Douglass. “We also want to pioneer inclusivity and for our work to be recognised amongst so much other great work in diversity and inclusion is a real honour for our team.”
PREMIERSHIP RUGBY’S ACCESSIBILITY COMMITMENT
Premiership Rugby’s aim is to become the ‘most welcoming league’ in the world to fans of all ages, backgrounds, abilities and circumstances. At the heart of this is our commitment to ensure disabled fans, staff and players are appropriately catered for across all aspects of the league’s activities, no matter what their impairment. This has included a £2.5m investment in community programmes for disabled people, enabling more people to play the game and reduce levels of social isolation.
Wayne Morris, Premiership Rugby’s community and CSR director explained: “A commitment to accessibility is at the very heart of our business, and it’s vital that our fans and supporters feel welcome at our matches and at all levels of the game. We have taken the first step on a journey to ensure that inclusion and accessibility goes beyond what happens on the pitch or through our programmes. We are incredibly proud of upskilling and training to make over 150 members of staff more disability confident and inclusive when working with our fans.
“There was a real buzz around the office when we found out we were shortlisted,” added Morris. “The team and our clubs have really invested their time and energy into this initiative, and it’s fantastic to have this recognised by such a prestigious nomination. We always look forward to Shortlist Announcement Day and being part of an industry that seeks to ensure that sport is enjoyed by all and on equal terms.”
SSE WILDCATS – THE FA GIRLS’ FOOTBALL CENTRES
SSE research showed that only 3% of youth football is girls-only and whilst girls are excited about the idea of playing football, many lack confidence and feel intimidated playing with boys. The brand responded by launching SSE Wildcats in partnership with the FA; a national programme giving girls aged 5-11 the opportunity to enjoy football at girls-only sessions.
“It gives young females the chance of peer to peer sport,” said SSE’s James Docherty, “and acts on definitive insight laid down that there is a need and want for this type of opportunity.
“SSE Wildcats has listened to mum’s, dad’s, guardian’s, coaches, former players, current players and delivered a programme where girls can play in an environment that they are comfortable in, engage in a positive manner with the sport, and ultimately provide a base and grounding for making future decisions about their involvement and future in football.”
Speaking about the refocus of the entire organisation, Docherty explained: “SSE believe we are shortlisted this year because, as a business, we have not only invested in redressing the gender pay gap; opened the avenues to recruit more female employees at senior levels; actively encouraged and engaged the BAME community in talent pipelines; but we have taken a diverse and inclusive agenda into the sponsorship landscape, and made an indelible mark.”
UEFA – #EQUALGAME
#EqualGame is the most successful community responsibility initiative in UEFA’s history. By showcasing the different ways all people can play football – via equalgame.com and in-market programmes and forums – UEFA broke down barriers and delivered community impact.
“The whole team behind UEFA’s #EqualGame campaign is extremely proud of its success and the immediate positive results it achieved to raise diversity awareness across European football,” said UEFA’s head of corporate communications, Peter Klomp.
“In its first year, #EqualGame has helped to drive forward the inclusion agenda with practical tools and programmes that clubs, national associations and many other football bodies have embraced with great results.”
Klomp added: “The entire team was thrilled to be shortlisted! After a lot of hard work, it is great recognition for a campaign that we feel is making a real difference to the football community in the UK and across the continent. It is also great to be shortlisted alongside so many other fantastic organisations and campaigns who all contribute to improving diversity and inclusion in sport. In the first year that this particular award is being handed out, it is very encouraging that the category received so many entries and UEFA is honoured to be in the final shortlist.”
Check out the full shortlist for the BT Sport Industry Awards here.
Looking to the future, Andrew Douglass warned that there is still more to be done.
“It is incredibly important [to celebrate diversity and inclusion]. But even more important is to recognise the difference between diversity and inclusion. A good way to think of this is that diversity is about inviting somebody to a game; inclusion is about asking someone to play. We need more people playing together and celebrate this.”
SSE’s James Docherty added: “Society has morphed into an environment where diversity and inclusion is an agenda item, therefore the more we celebrate being inclusive as the norm, the lower down the agenda list it becomes. Sport is a critical pillar for breaking down barriers as can be seen by the shortlist this year.”
UEFA’s Peter Klomp concluded: “Sport should be for everyone so we have a responsibility to ensure it is open and accessible for all with more players and fans from every background – ultimately helping to create a more healthy and harmonious community.”
The BT Sport Industry Awards are the largest commercial sports awards in the world, taking place at Battersea Evolution in London, on Thursday 26th April 2018.
Bringing together sports stars, celebrities, senior decision makers, influencers and global media, the industry’s most anticipated night of the year celebrates the very best work from across the sector. The famous trophies are awarded on-stage in front of a sell-out crowd of 1,700 guests at the star-studded event, held annually in London.
Tables for a variety of packages are still available to purchase here. For more information on the event click here, and follow @SportIndustry #BTSIA.
