East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has launched a new lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) network to increase its focus on staff well-being.
The network will work in conjunction with EMAS Peer to Peer (P2P) and Pastoral Care Workers (PCW) schemes. It will also seek to engage with community events, such as Pride, and other networks, including Leicester 999 LGBT network and Union LGBT.
On Monday 11 May 2015 colleagues gathered at the EMAS headquarters at Horizon Place in Nottingham to raise a rainbow flag (widely known worldwide as the pride flag representing gay pride) in preparation of International Day Against Homophobia which is observed on 17 May.
Before the flag was raised, EMAS Chief Executive Sue Noyes addressed colleagues, saying:
This is about us respecting, supporting and valuing our colleagues and patients from the LGBT community.”
Colleagues wrote supportive messages in rainbow coloured chalk on floor tiles beneath the rainbow flag which will fly at EMAS for the remainder of the week.
The launch of the EMAS LGBT network included a new corporate Twitter account @EMAS_LGBT, and a visit to the EMAS Trust Board by a Leicestershire based frontline colleague who talked with them about living the T part of LGBT.
