Celebrating
Inclusive Approach FiveOur approach
The action of celebrating what communities and individuals achieve, helps to build a sense of belonging and trust. It also increases the sense of shared values and respect between communities and organisations, to acknowledge what is good in our places and what we can achieve together.
It encourages and supports individuals and communities to continue contributing and be part of the changes they want to make in their communities. Evidence from the Beyond Us and Them: Societal Cohesion in Britain Through 18 months of COVID-19 report tells us where more people volunteer, communities benefit from closer social connections, higher trust in organisations and higher levels of optimism and resilience.
Statements
- We will credit and celebrate the achievements of individuals and organisations. Contributors should be recognised or rewarded for their time and input. This does not always have to be monetary.
- We will encourage active social engagement and support volunteering, and seek to remove the barriers that stop people taking part.
- By using the arts, sport and other fields of activity, we will promote a shared vision of our local places.
Checklist
Do you have a volunteer scheme, does it recognise and/or reward activity?
What volunteering / participation opportunities do you have?
How did you check that events were culturally relevant i.e. food, timings, etc.?
How do you make sure you get to hear about the good things happening in communities?
When did you last celebrate something with local people? How did it feel?
Make Space for Us is a research project between Yorkshire Sport Foundation, Women in Sport, Make Space for Us and Parks and Everybody Active team at Kirklees Council. The project aims to gain an understanding around teenage girls' perceptions of being active in green spaces, in this case, Holroyd Park in Ravensthorpe. Similar projects are taking place in Burngreave (Sheffield) and Greensborough Park (Rotherham).
Ravensthorpe is a focus area for Yorkshire Sport Foundation due to data and insight around physical inactivity levels. Yorkshire Sport Foundation also wanted to work in an area where the potential of investment could be identified.
There have been two stakeholder workshops run by Yorkshire Sport Foundation and Women in Sport, with local authority partners. Local authority partners helped identify key schools and community groups within the local area. The schools and community groups identified teenage girls who were from Ravensthorpe, who were incentivised to take part with iTunes vouchers. The consultation was held face-to-face in Ravensthorpe, in a safe and trusted space, allowing the teenage girls to really express their thoughts and opinions.
The intention is that Holroyd Park will be used by teenage girls, which will improve inactivity levels, create a safe and welcoming space, reduce anti-social behaviour and develop an asset that is used by the community who helped shape the asset. The learning and approach from the research will also enable its use across other green spaces across Kirklees.
District celebration events are held twice a year, celebrating the achievements of police officers, support staff, citizens of policing, partners and members of our community, for 'going the extra mile' and 'making a difference'.
The presentations reward and recognise achievements and hard work, promoting joint working. The benefits of holding inclusive DISTRICT presentations include:
- A sense of belonging.
- Increased partnership working.
- Community empowerment.
- Improved culture.
- Higher loyalty and satisfaction from employees and our community.
- Promotion of inclusivity: 'Everyone is part of the team'.
- Increased productivity and engagement across the District.
West Yorkshire Police are proud to have ranked 20th in the most inclusive companies list. We would like to enhance our position, by continuing to forge even more effective relations, with all key stakeholders moving forwards.
