Staff Network Day

What a fantastic day! Loved co-leading shaping today and bringing together Co-Chairs of staff networks and EDI leads from organisations that are going to form Great British Railways (GBR).

After lots of organising and planning meetings behind the scenes, working with Jonathan Payne Tracey Barber and Paula Reed and discussions about this important session with Andrea H., Jane Cubbin, Dannielle Dickens and Navleen Kalra, today was a day to continue co-designing GBR Staff networks with current Co-Chairs after an equally inspiring session that I was a Co-lead for too in May.

It was great to hear from Navleen Kalra that building GBR will be an ongoing journey shaped by the voices and ideas of our people.

The conversations today highlighted how much is already being achieved through staff networks across the organisations that will form GBR from supporting colleagues and influencing policy, to driving social mobility, accessibility, allyship and community engagement.

What stood out the most was the strong appetite for greater collaboration across the organisations. The Co-Chairs are increasingly sharing ideas, resources, good practice, while working together on industry-wide initiatives and events.

As we look ahead to GBR, it is clear that staff networks should continue to play a role in shaping the future culture of our industry. Key themes throughout the day were: More collaboration; influence and accountability; safe, trusted spaces continuing to be so important; continually sharing best practice with each other; a people-centred approach to designing future GBR networks and adequate time, resources and support for network leaders.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed and shared their experiences. The passion, expertise and commitment in the room demonstrated the powerful role our staff networks play in creating a more inclusive railway for our colleagues and for the communities we serve.

A final thank you to all my fabulous co-facilitators @Jonathan Payne Sam Gingham Mollie Craddock Louise Mather Paula Reed Sam WhitelawSaheeb Hussain Hema Patel Tracey Barber Look forward to continuing to work with you all and our staff network Co-Chairs as we head towards GBR.