Each year, the Princess Royal Training Awards offer an additional commendation for employers who have demonstrated a significant commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The commendation aims to highlight how providing equal opportunities can unlock individual potential and allow communities to thrive.

The recipients are announced this year during National Inclusion Week, a campaign designed to celebrate inclusion in the workplace by sharing, promoting and inspiring inclusion practices and cultures. Congratulations to…

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Dovecote Park

Supplier of the very finest British beef, veal and venison to Waitrose supermarkets nationwide. The company prides itself on maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare and husbandry.  Butchery is a very male dominated world, but Dovecote Park have addressed that stereotype by recruiting and training a significant number of women who have brought real commercial benefits too!

They employ a large number of Eastern European workers and have provided English and maths courses to enable them to mix more effectively in the workplace and in the local community.  By offering English to speakers of other languages they have enabled the nationality silos in the workplace to be broken down and enabled real inclusivity.

The Commissioners were impressed by both the focus on creating an inclusive and diverse workforce and by the commercial benefits that came from it. Read more

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Gateway Community Media

A local radio station in Essex who have engaged with their local community and especially with groups of individuals who would otherwise be excluded.  They work with long term unemployed people to help rebuild confidence and employability skills and do not see either physical or mental disability as an obstacle to positive progression into the workplace.

Over 500 individuals in the community have gained accreditation including young people excluded from school and those who normally find themselves on the edge of society.

The Commissioners wanted to recognise the role played in engaging the local community and creating opportunities through effective experiential learning for large numbers of individuals. Read more

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Springhill Hospice

Based in Rochdale and providing end of life care to the local community, they have reached out and offered training not only to their own staff but to over 800 individuals ensuring they have greater confidence in giving palliative care. They made a special effort to reach parts of their local community who traditionally didn’t use their services and in doing so provided an exemplar of best practice in addressing this difficult but critical area of care.

The Commissioners were impressed by this innovative approach and wanted to recognise the impact and importance of their work and their inclusive approach to their local community.

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These three examples of inclusivity provide a fascinating insight into how three very different organisations have gone the extra mile and made a real impact to hundreds of individuals. You can read more recipient stories here.