Pride Month marked by Bield with launch of Rainbow Network
Bield brings together a diverse community with volunteer initiative.
Bield Housing and Care, a specialist provider for older people, has launched a new volunteer initiative to bring together its diverse community.
Coinciding with Pride Day (28 June), Bield's ‘Rainbow Network’ initiative saw tenants invited to join a volunteer-led group, focused on inclusivity and fostering a safe and social environment for members of the LGBT community.
Bield said it hopes that bringing together like-minded tenants will not only create a social space but also actively engage and encourage tenants to share ideas for enhancing inclusivity.
The group is part of Bield’s efforts to highlight the importance of the nine legally protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
Zhan McIntyre, Head of Policy and Customer Standards at Bield, said: “The Rainbow Network has been set up to create an inclusive space for our diverse community to come together.
“We’re delighted to be launching during Pride Month and to have hosted the first meeting on 28 June – Pride Day. Tenant opinions and feedback form the baseline for our entire business, so we are always looking for ways to improve communication and engagement with our customers.”
One of the tenants already involved in the Rainbow Network said: “The LGBT scene is very oriented around younger folk, but many of us older ones have been active and 'out' for decades, it's just as we get older we can become marginalised and lonely.”
Anyone interested in attending the virtual group should contact feedback@bield.co.uk in order to receive a link to the meeting.
The Rainbow Network is one of many initiatives recently introduced to get feedback from the people who know and use Bield’s services. It comes just days after Bield held its first major customer engagement event since the pandemic, enabling the organisation’s CEO and directors to meet face-to-face with customers.The engagement event gave tenants the opportunity to influence Bield’s strategy for the next five years, at a time when the sector faces numerous challenges, including soaring energy prices, the introduction of new legislation and climate change.