International Women’s Day - Inspire Inclusion
Today is International Women's Day, a worldwide celebration of women's accomplishments and a call for advancing gender equality.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, with the campaign seeking to collectively create a more inclusive world for everyone, not only women.
We are pleased to work with diverse communities every day and truly embrace inclusion among our colleagues and in our neighbourhoods.
With this, we asked some of our employees about their achievements in Housing and their opinions on the #InspireInclusion message.
We have a great collaborative collage, with many more employees from our teams which can be found on our social media pages. Check out the IWD conversation over on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn!
We spoke to Heledd, our Assistant Director of Housing, about her role and how we can inspire inclusion in Housing.
I’ve been lucky enough to have been allowed to mentor and develop several exceptional young women who are our next generation of Housing leaders.
Housing is all about diversity – the diversity of our residents, the diversity of our staff, and the diversity of roles available. So, we’re well-versed in inclusivity, and we do it well. Six out of 10 of the UK’s biggest social landlords are led by women, and social landlords, on the whole, have either achieved parity in terms of gender pay gaps or are making demonstrable strides to narrow it. In essence, Housing could, and should, be used as a beacon of good practice as it relates to the inclusivity of women.”
We also spoke to Georgia, our Communications Apprentice, about her greatest career achievement and her thoughts on this year’s International Women’s Day theme, Inspire Inclusion.
“I have been working at Fairhive for almost three years and I’m coming to the end of my second apprenticeship course here.
My greatest accomplishment so far is being a finalist for outstanding achievement at the Inside Housing, Housing Heroes awards in 2023. As this is my first Housing role, I was honoured to make the final for my work during my apprenticeship.
Inclusivity is a cornerstone of our approach, and it is so important everyone, regardless of their background, identity, or abilities, feels respected and valued.
Inclusive environments ensure that everyone has access to resources, opportunities, and experiences, thereby enabling the development and nurturing of a thriving organisation and communities.”
We also spoke to Alex Monro, Head of Development Delivery, about her career and she told us about her favourite achievement so far:
“I officially started working for Fairhive in 2012 but had already been working on a consultancy basis within the organisation for several years before this. I first started working for a housing association in 1998.
My favourite career moment was when our Walton Court Centre project was shortlisted for the RICS 2017 awards in the regeneration category. The regeneration of Walton Court has addressed the Centre’s issues of anti-social behaviour, connectivity, health and wellbeing, and rebranded it as a desirable place to live and be.
Working within a collaborative process, the homes were super-insulated, the retail units were relocated, the community facilities were expanded and the courtyard was secured to create a clear hierarchy of public and private space which is both safe and secure whilst providing a sense of neighbourhood and interaction with the wider community.
I think that encouraging inclusivity in Housing requires educating both employees and residents through training, supporting diverse communities, and being a champion for equity.”
A huge thank you again to Heledd, Georgia and Alex for sharing their thoughts and to all our colleagues who snapped a photo to join our collage!
To find out more about this year’s theme, please visit the International Women’s Day website.
