Apeksha Naik
13 Jun 2025
Industry colleagues joined us at the RSSB offices on 12 June
"To celebrate Social Mobility day on 12 June, Rail Unites for Inclusion collaborated with the industry social mobility network, Beyond Barriers to hold an event at the RSSB offices in London, thank you RSSB for hosting our event.
Beyond Barriers was created from the Industry social mobility working group that our RUI Co-Chairs Apeksha Naik and Odis Palmer founded in 2024. The working group is now Co-Chaired by our RUI Co-Chairs, one of our Deputy RUI Co-Chairs, Dante Frederick and Faizza Rumani, an EDI Specialist at Network Rail.
The event was opened by one of our Co-Chairs Odis Palmer and closed by our other Co-Chair Apeksha Naik.
There were 2 panel sessions including one Chaired by Faizza Rumani who spoke to the Beyond Barriers Leadership team – Deputy Chairs - Tom Hall and Raye Fullard as well as Co-Chairs - Elena Gonzalez, Jyoti Jassi and David. David Boot then hosted the second panel session, which included @Mick Cash, Former General Secretary for RMT as well as industry leaders Linda Wain, LNER; Claire Gibbs Gibbs and @Sir Andrew Haines, who is also the Sponsor of the industry social mobility working group, steering group and Beyond Barriers.
The panels discussed the importance of sharing and listening to individual experiences to understand barriers to mobility and advocating for change. Addressing structural issues to ensure fair opportunities, creating clear pathways for growth and engaging with young people were all highlighted as key steps to progress.
Above is a photo of our RUI Co-Chairs Apeksha Naik and Odis Palmer alongside fellow Co-Chair of the Industry social mobility working group Faizza Rumani and the Beyond Barriers team. They are all standing in front of the RUI and Beyond Barriers banners. More photos from the event can be found below."
