Reminder: Staff Disability Network coffee morning, 13 November

Friday, 10 November 2017

As announced in October, work is currently underway to launch the Staff Disability Network – a group specifically designed to represent the views of disabled colleagues and to instigate positive change across the University.

The new group joins our existing equality and diversity staff networks – the LGBT Plus Network, the Cultural Diversity Group and the Women@Reading network.

Membership is voluntary, and all University staff are welcome to join – though focused on representing individuals with disabilities or impairments, colleagues without disabilities are more than welcome to join the group and take part in discussions.

Informal coffee morning Monday 13 November

An informal coffee morning will be held on Monday 13 November, 11.30 am – 12.30 pm in the ESSC Common Room (Room 175), Harry Pitt building for those interested in joining.

The core members of the group will be on hand to talk about the goals of the network, and are keen to hear from colleagues from all parts of the University on their experiences with disability (personal or otherwise) and suggestions on what could be improved here at Reading.

So please come along, grab a coffee and find out how you can get involved!

Aim of the Staff Disability Network

As a university, we have a proud history of supporting diversity and inclusion. We know that we can only achieve our vision of being a world-class, forward-looking and ambitious university by recruiting, supporting and developing staff from the widest variety of backgrounds.

The Staff Disability Network is still in the early stages of development, and we are making progress behind the scenes in shaping the group from the ground up.

Its key aims have been identified, which are:

To give disabled staff a voice in the University, and to provide a consultation group on matters affecting day-to-day activities.
To inspire culture change and raise awareness of challenges experienced by disabled staff.
To improve understanding of what constitutes as ‘disability’.
To offer staff the same level of service we provide to our disabled students.

If you can’t make the coffee morning but would be interested in joining the group or keeping up to date with activities and events, please email staffdisability@reading.ac.uk.