Lyndsay McCartney

Said the following about Northern - East Region:

“I am nominating the East Region at Northern, for their dedication to creating an inclusive workplace. The East Region incorporates West Yorkshire and the city of Bradford which is one of the UK’s largest multicultural cities. Tony Baxter, Regional Director East, and his leadership team in the region were keen to learn about the need of colleagues from various cultural and faith backgrounds, as well as learning how Northern can attract job applications from those communities who may not have considered a career in rail.

Northern is a corporate partner of the Yorkshire Asian Business Association (YABA), an organisation based in Bradford created to give a voice to Asian business owners in the area. This partnership was utilised when preparing for Inter Faith Week in the East Region. The team from the region spent the day in Bradford with our YABA partners learning about the Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim faiths. The day involved visits to three places of worship - Guru Gobind Singh Gudwara, Shree Lakshmi Narayan Hindu Temple and the Masjid Abu Bakar Mosque.

At each venue, the team met with a faith leader and were given an overview of the religion, a tour of the building, and the opportunity to discuss how we can support Northern colleagues who practice the Sikh, Hindu, or Muslim faiths. Discussions included which holidays or festivals are important to the faith and what can we do as an inclusive employer to support colleagues who are fasting during Ramadan.

It’s also important to understand the needs of the future generation of railway workers and ensure our workforce is representative of the communities we serve - something which Richard Isaac and Lisa Maloney, the East Region Community and Sustainability Managers, are passionate about. They work closely with the Northern HR team and our YABA partners to ensure Northern are represented in the Asian community where possible, for example at school careers fairs.

On another occasion, Tony Baxter joined Mayor Tracy Brabin, Lord Lieutenant, the Bradford / Leeds City of Culture Leadership Teams, faith leaders and key influencers from across the region at a Diwali celebration event.

These initiatives help us to understand the needs of our colleagues, but they also help us to understand our customers, and with the support of YABA we can ensure we keep our customers at the heart of what we do.

To ensure we support colleagues who are part of a faith community, the recent refurbishment of the Leeds depot mess room was designed to include a multi-faith room; giving our colleagues a private and quiet space to pray. This area includes wudu wash facilities - a cleansing area which assists with washing before prayer, which is essential within the Muslim faith community.

The East Region of Northern are proud to employ Tahira Bibi – one of our newly qualified train drivers. Tahira made history by being the first female Pakistani train driver in the UK, and as well as driving trains, she works closely with the East Region Stakeholder and Community teams and acts as an ambassador for the Asian community in rail. She recently appeared on CBBC Newsround, talking about her role.

In recognition of the work the whole of the East region has done related to inclusivity and young people in the Bradford area, Pete Myers, Stakeholder Manager, was awarded with the ‘Bradford CTE Partnership Valued Contribution Award 2021’ by the Bradford and Metropolitan District Council.“