The recent NCFD FREDIE AWARDS put Eastleigh College in 48th place in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2021. The College began working with the National Centre for Diversity (NCFD) in 2020 to further embed its workplace values of ambition, respect, resilience and professionalism in all college activities.
The index is organised by the NCFD based on evidence of participating employers’ commitment to the ‘FREDIEs’, which are the values of Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement. Employers span the private, public, education and charity sectors.
Staff and learners from across the college have completed an anonymous survey about their experiences of diversity and inclusion at college. The NCFD scores enable employers to understand what’s going well and where they need to focus their efforts.
Eastleigh College Chief Executive and Principal, Paul Cox said: “As a college we continually challenge ourselves to improve and our values are at the core of everything we do. The NCFD and FREDIE are helping us to improve further by ensuring our college culture is as inclusive, as it is ambitious. To be ranked 48th in our first year working with the NCFD is a great testament to our whole College.”
Solat Chaudhry, Chief Executive at the National Centre for Diversity said: “I send my warmest congratulations to Eastleigh College on successfully reaching number 48 in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2021. It’s been a challenging year and yet, it has not dented the excellent work that organisations and individuals do in promoting FREDIE best practice. We had to have these awards this year. We could not ignore the fantastic efforts that everyone has continued doing. I congratulate everyone who works so hard day-in day-out to maintain these high standards. Through the work of the FREDIEs we are able to build a better society, and our winners come from a wonderful cross section of private, public, education and charity sectors representing the very best.”
Paul Cox thanked staff and learners for their daily commitment to college values and for their contributions to the FREDIEs so far. Paul said: “Working with the NCFD will remain a key priority for us all for the years ahead.”
