Awards for efforts on diversity

The fantastic efforts of BT Openreach people have been recognised at the Diversity Awards 2008. The inaugural competition saluted individuals and teams that have shown a remarkable commitment to raising awareness or making a difference in a wide range of diversity-related areas.  

Among the winners were engineer Joe Kilbride and the Scottish diversity team.

They won the team award for their fantastic efforts in putting diversity on the agenda in Scotland, helping to ensure that an impressive 80 per cent of employees had completed mandatory diversity training by June this year.

And Joe also picked up an individual accolade for his role in driving the programme.

He said: “I was absolutely delighted when I heard we’d won. It’s recognition of all the hard work we’ve done as a team and of the support we’ve had.

“Diversity is something I very much believe in, so I was more than happy to get involved.”

Other winners included Leicester-based wholesale line rental assurance advisor Jake King. Having been diagnosed with schizophrenia, Jake worked with mental health charity Mind to raise awareness of mental health issues across BT and has been involved in the design and development of an online forum.

Croydon-based site manager Mike Foley picked up an award for the understanding he showed to a member of his team over a sensitive diversity-related issue, while Mark Biffin won the leadership award for his work on the Challenge Africa apprentice programme.

Emily Fenwick, of human resources, was highly commended in the leadership category for her efforts to address harassment and bullying issues in the South East.