UHDB rainbow walkways for the NHS 73rd Birthday
UHDB celebrated the NHS 73rd birthday with rainbow walkways across all sites!
As the NHS turned 73, UHDB marked the occasion with a splash of colour across all sites by unveiling rainbow walkways.
The rainbow installations lead on from UHDB campaigns to combat hate received by staff at the Trust and are a permanent show of support to the LGBTQIA+ and BAME communities who visit, work and attend our hospitals.
In an extension of Pride month, which saw the Trust share stories from staff within the LGBTQIA+ community, hand out lanyards featuring pronouns, raise the Pride flag outside hospitals throughout June and by strengthening staff networks, the rainbow walkways will ensure that Pride is prominent and visible all year round.
At the entrance to Royal Derby Hospital a rainbow crossing, believed to be the first in Derbyshire, featuring the six original Pride colours has been unveiled. This crossing will have a second instalment, adding the Pride progress colours over 9-11th July, in celebration of the National Transgender Charity Sparkle Weekend.
Over at Queens Hospital Burton the Trust has unveiled a rainbow walkway, featuring the Pride progress colours, on the glass panels of the atrium, projecting a rainbow onto the path leading into the hospital.
For UHDB community hospitals; Samuel Johnson, Sir Robert Peel and London Road, the matting as you enter each site has been replaced with a new design featuring the colours of the Pride progress flag; welcoming all who walk through the doors.
Gavin Boyle, Chief Executive, said: “One of our values as an organisation is Openness, and part of openness is inclusivity and being open to difference. UHDB is a place that welcomes everybody, where everyone should feel comfortable to be themselves, and the walkways are a celebration of that, in this particular case for our LGBTQIA+ colleagues. We will be celebrating and supporting difference in a variety of ways, through visual shows of support like the rainbow walkways, but also practically through the growing strength of our staff networks.”
The growth and strengthening of UHDB staff networks has provided a platform for so many to raise issues of common interest at all levels, to share experiences, views and positive initiatives. The staff networks and rainbow walkways are just some of the ways UHDB are continuing to support diversity within the Trust.
Dan Walton-Ashmore, Co-Chair of UHDBs LGBTQIA+ Network, said: “Having the rainbow roads across our sites creates a permanent reminder of how far we have come, not only as an organisation, but as a society. Being in a prominent place at the front of our hospitals just shows the firm stance that our Trust is taking to truly make UHDB an inclusive place for all.”
In a world that has been turned on its head over the past 18 months, LGBTQIA+ colleagues have stepped up and played their part within the NHS, continuing to champion inclusivity for staff, patients and the wider communities we serve.”
The rainbow walkways were designed by Elizabeth Buxton, Senior Communications Officer at UHDB, who led the project alongside Lisa Redfern, Projects Officer, and UHDB Estates & Facilities teams. The walkway at Queens Hospital Burton was installed by Alex Sampson at Clockwork Signs and Steve Flanagan at Sign Design. The walkway at Royal Derby Hospital was installed by Gilvar Lining and Beaufords Construction via Chris Danvers at Skanska. The matting at each site was installed by Mark Grant of Derbyshire Flooring Contractors Ltd.
