The first-ever WalesOnline Diversity and Inclusion Awards took place on Wednesday night, with hopes that an inspirational and successful event will go from strength to strength.
Hundreds of people filled the event at the Cardiff City Stadium, where the awards aimed to shine a light on the outstanding dedication of people fighting for fairness throughout communities in Wales. Individuals, organisations and initiatives were all among those shortlisted and you can see the full list of winners below.
Among the highlights of the evening was keynote speaker Daniel Biddle's speech. Daniel was on the London Underground and just inches from one of the terrorists who detonated bombs on July 7, 2005, killing 56 people. The attacker looked into Daniel's eyes as he did it. Daniel survived but lost both his legs, his left eye and his spleen. He was told on several occasions he would not survive and has since devoted his life to helping people with disabilities. You can read his story here.
"We all have to support each and every agenda that's in this room," Daniel told guests. "The collective power of all of us working on this together will change the way society views disability, sexual orientation, whatever it may be. There is so much power in this room tonight to actually drive positive change.
"I felt very honoured to be asked to speak at this event. Every single person in here is doing amazing work. To be in this room shows that what you do is recognised, appreciated and needed so keep going. It's fantastic to have an event like this, it shines a light on organisations that are really pushing the agenda each and every day, an absolutely amazing thing that we should all be very, very proud of."
The winners
These are the winners of the awards. You can see the full shortlist here and there are plenty more pictures below.
- Gender Equality Champion, Initiative or Campaign of the Year: The Diverse5050 campaign by the Women's Equality Network Wales, which is working for diverse and equal representation and leadership in the Senedd and throughout the political structure of Wales.
- LGBTQ+ Champion, Initiative or Campaign of the Year: The Homelessness and LGBTQ+ People in Gwent Research initiative from Tai Pawb, which works to increase understanding of the particular issues faced by LGBTQ+ people dealing with homelessness.
- Disability Champion, Initiative or Campaign of the Year: Daniel Biddle, founder of the National Diversity Employment and Advisory Service, which works to provide equity of opportunity to people with disabilities.
- Race and Ethnicity Champion, Initiative or Campaign of the Year: Diverse Cymru, whose Cultural Competency scheme seeks to improve mental health service outcomes for people in black and ethnic minority communities in Wales.
- Social Mobility Champion, Initiative or Campaign of the Year: Bhavdeep Bola, co-founder of The 93% Club's only active Welsh branch, which helps state-school-educated pupils who attend universities in Cardiff reach new career opportunities.
- Wellbeing or Mental Health Champion, Initiative of Campaign of the Year: Green Hat Consulting, for its Under the Hat campaign to address the stigma around mental health in the construction sector.
- CSR Initiative of the Year: RainbowBiz CIC, whose initiatives include gardening, walking and social groups which minimise isolation and create stronger community connections between people of various cultures.
- Peer Network of the Year: The Equal Power Equal Voice mentoring programme, set up by Women’s Equality Network Wales, Stonewall Cymru, Disability Wales and the Ethnic Minorities & Youth Support Team Wales to increase diversity of representation in Wales, bridging the gap between marginalised groups and public and political systems.
- Inclusive Advertising Campaign of the Year: #ChooseFamily, a collaborative campaign between Cowshed and the National Adoption Service for Wales to highlight the need to find families for children with complex needs #WalesOnlineDandIAwards
- D&I Podcast of the Year: Esgusodwch Fi, which voices the perspectives of the LGBTQ+ community in Welsh.
- D&I Specialist Business of the Year: Neurodivergent Matters, founded by Monique Craine, which offers online workshops and training about neurodiversity to break down barriers within the workplace for neurodivergent people.
- Outstanding Contribution Award: Dr Tony Malone, secretary general of the World Buddhist Scout Council, inclusion commissioner for Scouts Cymru and ambassador for LGBT+ History Month UK, for his inspiring hard work, achievements and success.
The awards were headline sponsored by the Welsh Government, while category sponsors were Admiral, Clayton Hotel Cardiff, MotoNove Finance, S4C, Bernie Davies Global and Michael Page UK and So Coffee.
Read more:
- I sat next to a terrorist when he blew up a tube train I wasn't meant to be on
- 'Endometriosis flare ups leave me in crippling, agonising pain and impacts my whole family'
- The couple who want to change the perception around adopting siblings after giving twins a loving home
- 'I was bullied so badly in school I still have nightmares about it now I'm in my 20s'
- The woman behind the tiny Caribbean restaurant in Cardiff that people can't get enough of
