The RailStaff Awards 2024

Lily Kitchen

Said the following about Cultural Fusion Network:

“The Cultural Fusion employee network, led by Sharon Salmon, has been an outstanding support to the Race Matters project at Network Rail over the past few years, but in particular during COVID-19 and following the death of George Floyd. The network has gone above and beyond, setting up weekly virtual tea breaks for its members, which have provided a safe space for colleagues to share their lived experience and help allies deepen their understanding of the challenges faced by black, Asian and minority ethnic employees at Network Rail. They have also continued to support their members' career development, with their leadership team organising their first virtual ‘Career Festival Week’ in September, which was a great opportunity for members to invest in their personal and professional development.“

Rebecca Akintoye

Said the following about Cultural Fusion Network:

“The Cultural Fusion Network (CFN) was created 8 years ago to support the Diversity and Inclusion work at Network Rail which is aimed at creating a more inclusive and diverse workforce. Cultural Fusion is open to all and welcomes colleagues that want to help promote change or learn more about their diverse colleagues’ cultures and histories. The network helps members to feel safe and included in their working and personal environments and really stepped up their game in the last year, providing needed support and encouragement during COVID.

CFN began a Weekly Tea Break session in May 2020 as a way of supporting colleagues through COVID. The Breaks provide a safe space for members to speak openly about their experiences and pains on subject that matter to the members. These engaging and sometimes sensitive sessions, have been well-received, covering topics such as living in a COVID world, health inequalities, home-schooling, black lives matter, taking the knee, South Asian Heritage & culture, and it’s not always black and white. Members from different parts of the business actively contribute to these well-organised sessions. Cultural Fusion have also been able to take these Tea Break sessions and turn them into a forum for supporting diversity and inclusion at a company level during the first ever UK Race Equality week in February 2021, an event in which over 2000 businesses participated.

When members highlighted that personal and professional development needs were an area that needed addressing, especially after a year of COVID, the network, recognising that people’s careers were as unique as the individuals themselves, organised a ‘Cultural Fusion Career Festival’- a weeklong event dedicated to among others, providing sessions on, cv writing, interview tips, growth mind set, visibility and my personal favourites personal branding and rocking Linked In. This week was much needed and has benefited members and non-members alike by giving us tools to use within Network Rail or externally. These tools will be really useful in navigating a world post-COVID where interviews are online and digital platforms have become even more important.

The network also held several virtual events through Black History month in 2020, inviting guest speakers such as Dragon’s Den winner, Levi Roots, Dame Floella Benjamin, DBE, Ansel Wong CBE (founder of Black History Month in the UK) BAFTA award winning actress Naomi Ackee and Andrew Haines, Chief Executive of Network Rail. The network even managed to produce and launch an ethnicity ally’s toolkit during the pandemic in 2021. This toolkit aims to help colleagues make Network Rail a more diverse and inclusive place through encouraging effective ally ship and promoting inclusion through conscious efforts. The toolkit provides a wealth of resources and information to help allies learn about ongoing issues and how they can make a difference.

It’s been great to see the network respond to the needs of their members and taking on board the challenges and fears the pandemic has brought, to provide through new technologies beneficial support, encouragement and inspiration to its members.“