Blog 14 May 2025

Building a community at The Forward Trust: National Day for Staff Networks (14 May)

By By Rosie Watson, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator

14th May is the National Day for Staff Networks, and the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion team have linked this with the Mental Health Awareness Week theme of 'community'. Today, we are highlighting the ways staff build community with their colleagues at Forward through our staff networks.

At The Forward Trust, we have five key staff networks that we call Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). They are:

Embrace (disability, mental health, neurodiversity).
Proud (LGBTQ+).
ForWomen (women).
Race Forward (race and ethnicity).
Lived Experience in Action (lived experience of the criminal justice system).

We recognise that our organisation is vast, with pockets of staff across England and Wales who work in very different contexts. We wanted to represent this variety of experience. So, we asked Forward staff how they connect with colleagues and contribute to Forward’s inclusive culture. Their responses are embedded within this article.

What do the numbers say?

Across our five ERGs in 2024-25, we reached our goal of 100 members. Membership spans all our directorates with a mix of remote and frontline staff.

We sent a survey to ERG members to gather feedback on their experiences this year. 64% of respondents agreed that they feel a sense of community within their ERG. 75% of respondents agreed that they feel more connected to the wider organisation through their ERG. When respondents were asked what they most valued about being part of an ERG, 58% answered with the sense of community.

Our ERGs have held 24 events and 20 meetings across the year, facilitating connections between colleagues. Examples of their achievements include:

Race Forward hosted Forward’s first in-person Black History Month celebration.
Embrace launched a regular ‘colouring coffee break’ where colleagues can take a break from the busy working day and engage in something creative.
ForWomen coordinated a Forward-wide celebration of women for International Women’s Day. They invited staff to nominate women who inspire them, with a total of 75 nominations received.
Proud embedded a ‘media recommendations’ discussion into all members’ meetings, to encourage the development of social relationships between members.
Lived Experience in Action hosted an online discussion event on Life After Offending.

Impact is more than just numbers

Whilst numbers are an important metric, the real purpose of our ERGs is to make a difference to individual people. So, here is what some of our ERG members say:

Debbie Ford, Principal Counselling Psychologist and member of Embrace, noted how trust, mutual respect, and collaboration are at the core of what Embrace do:

“The ERG groups are inclusive. They are there to offer help, enable members to feel heard and to celebrate success.”

Abbie MacGregor, Community Service Development Manager and Co-Chair of ForWomen, talked about her experiences as part of the ForWomen ERG. She reflected on how it has helped her build connections with colleagues beyond her immediate team. Abbie talked about attending an in-person event and noticing how many familiar faces were from the ERG:

“It was a clear reminder of how staff networks can foster a sense of community, expand your perspective, and strengthen your sense of belonging across the organisation.”

Harry Gilson, Market Development Manager and member of Embrace, reflected on how much he enjoys working with a diverse range of people at Forward. Through Embrace, Harry has been involved in delivering informative and unique events:

“It feels like everybody at Forward is driven by not only shared goals and a cause, but a genuine want to help people.”

Anonymous feedback collected after events also highlighted the impact ERGs have in terms of building connections. For example:

Noting that the topic discussed “can be isolating, and it made me realise we’re not alone.”
Simply that “connection is incredible.”
And that “people’s stories can be so powerful but full of learning too.”

What’s next for the ERGs?

In the coming year, we are dedicated to enhancing the capacity and capability of our ERGs. In particular, we will focus on how our ERGs can promote allyship and work more collaboratively. We will also explore additional ways to support and empower the ERGs to facilitate their leadership development and succession planning.

To conclude, a wonderful quote from Sid Singh, Team Leader in the Dependency and Recovery service and a member of Lived Experience in Action:

“There is unity in community. Knowing we all work for one organisation and have one common aim makes it easy to find a connection across the company.”

You can read about our ERGs and their achievements in this year’s Impact Report. You can also view a summary here.