The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Safety Person or Team Award

Louise Ebrey

Said the following about Cultural Fusion Teabreaks:

“The cultural fusion team have created a safe space for people to talk about difficult issues. Every Wednesday since the start of the first lockdown there has been a safe place for people to go to talk thought difficult issues and share experiences from different cultures. Some of those have been on topics which you might expect from a network supporting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) employees and they were certainly a big support during BLM and BAME specific COVID issues in the last year.

But they have also hosted discussions on domestic violence, being overweight, being a good ally and a number of topics which have been open to anyone to attend. I am blown away by the nature of the safe space they have created - especially as this is in an online environment with people who have never met face to face. People are sharing the most personal experiences which makes it much easier to understand issues and people are giving the most amazing support to others in need.

There are also some wonderful positive sessions where traditions from different cultures are shared. Weddings from around the world was one in particular which I remember fondly.

The team do a lot to make this space safe for people to talk openly and honestly and talk to many people offline afterward to ensure they are ok. The community model this and often offer each other support in the text chat and offline.

This work is now being seen as best practice for other organisations to model. Race Equality Matters say “Tea Break has been revolutionary in moving the dial on inclusion, uncovering the real issues that matter and taking action”. They thought was so good that they have published a guide based on the model developed by Cultural Fusion to support other organisations who would like to have similar conversations. https://www.raceequalitymatters.com/tea-break/

I’ve personally taken a lot from these sessions and they have definitely helped me to be a better ethnicity ally. I’m entering them in this category on the basis that until people feel psychologically safe at work, we won’t have a workforce where every person in the company can be physically safe. These discussion are creating a space where people can discuss the situations which make them feel unsafe from every perspective, these can be openly aired leading to both better understanding of the issues and potential solutions being developed and shared.“