Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month – September 2019

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World Alzheimer’s Month is the international campaign every September to raise awareness and challenge the stigma that surrounds dementia. September 2019 will mark the 8th World Alzheimer’s Month. The campaign was launched in 2012 and World Alzheimer’s Day is on 21 September each year.

With this in mind we have chosen Scott Mitchell and Barbara Windsor as our Inspirational Diversity Champions of the Month.

Both are former actors and have been married since 2000.  Barbara, well known in the role of Peggy Mitchell in Eastenders, is currently living with Alzheimer’s.  Barbara was diagnosed in 2014 but her condition was only made public in 2018.

Together they are campaigning to raise awareness of the condition and for more support for the families and those affected by Dementia.

Scott and Barbara led the charge for Dementia Revolution, a unique ground-breaking campaign formed by Alzheimer’s Society and Alzheimer’s Research UK, helping to raise over £3 million towards dementia research.

Dementia Revolution was the chosen charity for this year’s London Marathon and Scott and fellow Eastenders friends of Barbara’s decided to raise money for the cause by running in the name of Barbara’s Revolutionaries.

Scott and Barbara have recently become Ambassadors for the Alzheimer’s Society and continue to fight against dementia.

To find out more about World Alzheimer’s Month see here https://www.alz.co.uk/world-alzheimers-month

To find out more about Dementia Revolution see here https://www.dementiarevolution.org/

Transcontinental Race: Germany’s Fiona Kolbinger becomes first female winner of endurance race

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Germany’s Fiona Kolbinger has beaten more than 200 men to become the first woman to win the Transcontinental Race, cycling more than 2,485 miles across Europe in just over 10 days.

The cancer researcher, 24, endured thunderstorms, scorching heat and icy rain in the solo race, which took her from Burgas, Bulgaria to Brest in north west France via five other countries.

After finishing in a time of 10 days, two hours and 48 minutes, Kolbinger says she could have “gone harder”, adding: “I could have slept less.”

Britain’s Ben Davies is poised to take second place, but he is yet to cross the finish line. He was still 124 miles (200km) away when Kolbinger finished on Tuesday morning. More

Team GB’s only black swimmer: ‘I understand why girls would quit over their hair’

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“I vividly remember a black girl saying at training that the reason black girls don’t swim is because of their hair.

“I was about 12 or 13 at the time and had never thought of the idea of hair stopping you from swimming. Now that I am older I can fully understand why someone would quit over their hair.”

Alice Dearing, a 22-year-old student at Loughborough University, is one of Great Britain’s top female marathon swimmers.

She’s also currently the only black swimmer on Team GB and is only the second to represent them in the water. More

Stephanie Frappart: Female referee to take charge of Uefa Super Cup

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Stephanie Frappart will become the first woman to referee a major men’s European match when she takes charge of the Uefa Super Cup final between Liverpool and Chelsea on 14 August.

Frappart will lead a team that also includes two female assistant referees when the Champions League winners face the Europa League holders in Istanbul.

The 35-year-old Frenchwoman refereed July’s Women’s World Cup final in Lyon.

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said he was “delighted” by her appointment. More

Khadijah Mellah: Hijab-wearing jockey triumphs on Haverland and makes history

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Four months ago Khadijah Mellah had not even sat on a racehorse, but on Thursday she made history by winning the Magnolia Cup at Glorious Goodwood.

The 18-year-old student is believed to be the first person in the UK to appear in a competitive horse race while wearing a hijab.

The amateur rider from Peckham, in south London, won the five-and-a-half-furlong charity race aboard Charlie Fellowes-trained 25-1 outsider Haverland, beating the likes of Olympic cycling champion turned jockey Victoria Pendleton. More

Inspirational Diversity Champion of the month – August 2019

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On 12 August it is International Youth Day and with that in mind we have chosen Amanda Medler as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

Amanda is the Chief Guide, the most senior volunteer at Girlguiding UK.  She was appointed following an extensive recruitment process that involved both young members and leaders.

Amanda started her five year term in 2018 and has been involved in guiding her whole life. She qualified as a Brownie leader whilst studying at Loughborough University and she became a Guide leader in London and South East England Region in 1989, which she continues to this day.

In Middlesex North West County, Amanda created a Young Guiders forum and was chair of programme and training before serving as assistant and then county commissioner.

Amanda has been a Girlguiding qualified trainer since 2003, and over the years has progressed from being chair of the British Youth Council delegation to being elected as a member of Council and the Executive committee. She led significant change as UK Guide adviser (lead volunteer 1995-2000), delivering the renewal of the Guide programme.

On the global stage Amanda has been a member of Girlguiding’s delegation to a Europe Conference as well as other European events and conferences. In 2010, she was elected to the WAGGGS Europe Committee and in 2013 served a second three-year term as vice chair.

In her professional life Amanda has worked in corporate IT for over 20 years, moving into the not-for-profit sector eight years ago, first as a senior project manager for Citizens Advice and now as a senior consultant with Adapta Consulting.

To find out more about International Youth Day see here

https://www.un.org/development/desa/youth/news/2019/04/iyd-2/ To find out more about Girlguiding see here https://www.girlguiding.org.uk

London’s Wheelie Gang helps children who use wheelchairs

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Emma from Greenwich set up the Wheelie Gang because her daughter Evie had no friends in her school in a wheelchair.

But now, after seeing how many children in wheelchairs feel the same as Evie, Emma’s project has grown into something she hopes to expand across London.

Emma uses her local community centre in Greenwich to organise disabled-friendly sports and crafts for children. More

Join our Faith Staff Network

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Dear Colleagues

Would you like to have a say in how the University:

If yes, then how about joining our Faith Staff Network. It aims to promote the interests of staff with diverse faiths and beliefs employed at the University of Greenwich.

So, if you have a formal religion/belief, or indeed no belief, you are welcome to join the Faith Staff Network.

Regular Staff Network meetings will be held and will focus on planning work that helps promote diversity and inclusion across the University. These networks will have a direct communication channel to Senior Management through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Interested?

If you are interested in being a part of any of these inspiring groups, please contact Naseer Ahmad in the EDI Team on: n.ahmad@greenwich.ac.uk.

Best Regards

Gail Brindley

Director of Human Resources

Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month

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On 14 July it is Disability Awareness Day and with this in mind we have chosen Sophie Morgan as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

In 2003 Sophie was left paralysed from the chest down after a road accident when she was 18 years old after which she was determined to channel her adversity into opportunity.

In 2004, 9 months after her accident, she took part in the first series of BBC Two‘s Beyond Boundaries, which followed 11 disabled people on an expedition to traverse 220 miles across Nicaragua from its Atlantic coast to its Pacific coast.  She haS also appeared in Britain’s Missing Top Model where women with disabilities competed to become a model, challenging boundaries in the beauty and fashion industries in which she came runner up.

In 2013, she presented Licence to Kill, a documentary for BBC Three about road accidents like hers caused by young drivers. Following broadcast of the film, Sophie teamed up with BBC Learning and Drive iQ to launch the Licence to Kill Schools Tour, visiting schools and colleges to promote young driver safety. The tour was endorsed by organizations including Road Safety GB, Transport for London, and RoadSafe.

Sophie has now worked as a reporter for the BBC and Channel 4 appearing on Horizon, The One Show and No Go Britain.  She has also become a presenter for Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympics in 2012 and 2016 and the 2016 IPC European Swimming Championships.

Sophie has been involved in many campaigns including The Back Up Trust providing support for people with spinal cord injuries, she is a patron of Scope, an ambassador for Parallel London and she has assisted in promoting SEAT a programme to help disabled youths to drive.  She also designed the ‘Mannequal’ a wheelchair for a mannequin which was installed in Adidas and Debenhams.

To find out more about Sophie see here https://www.sophiemorgan.com/

To find out more about Disability Awareness Day see here https://www.disabilityawarenessday.org.uk/show/

Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month

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Diabetes Awareness Week takes place from 10 – 16 June and with this in mind we have chosen Jonny Labey as our Inspirational Diversity Champion of the Month.

Jonny is a supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation having been diagnosed himself with type 1 diabetes at the age of 15.

Jonny is an actor and dancer making his TV acting debut as popular EastEnders character Paul Coker where he was able to include type 1 in his character’s storyline.

But his greatest passion in life is dancing. He’s been a dancer since he was 5 years old and graduated from the prestigious Doreen Bird College of Performance, one of the University’s partner colleges. Since then he has gone on to win ITV’s Dance Dance Dance and he’s also played the lead role as Scott Hastings in Baz Luhrmann’s West End hit musical Strictly Ballroom.

In his spare time he runs a blog Know Your Type, where he interviews people from all walks of life on their experiences and tips for managing the condition.

Jonny has supported many JDRF fundraising events including The Secret Garden Dinner and Pro-Celebrity Golf days. He also works with them to inspire young people to overcome obstacles caused by type 1 and to follow their dreams:

“Everyone with type 1 diabetes should have the self-belief they can achieve whatever they want in life.”

To find out more about JDRF see here https://jdrf.org.uk/

To find out more about Diabetes Awareness Week see here https://www.diabetes.org.uk/get_involved/diabetes-week