Celebrating Diversity
Welcome to our Celebrating Diversity hub! We are working alongside Cohesion Plus to share amazing stories, inspiring events, and helpful resources with you. Here, you’ll see events that are making a real difference in their communities and how your council can get involved.
Pride Month
Look at Town and Parish Councils that celebrated Pride Month here
Equality Champion
Challenge 9: could you be an equality champion?
Do you think you could become an equality champion for your council? The information in this workbook will help you decide how to go about making sure equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded in all council policies, procedures, and services.
- ask your Council what they are doing with regards to equality, diversity and inclusion
- look at who is involved in partnerships and joint working. Having diverse people involved is more likely to help you to ensure a diverse range of views can help you make decisions.
- ensure that progress on equality, diversity and inclusion is included in the Annual Report
- make sure that there is someone, or a small team, who has responsibility within the council for equality, diversity and inclusion issues
- when you work with other organisations, or represent the council on partnership bodies, ask what they are doing about ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion. Build it into whatever you are doing
- look at your working practices and the makeup of your council. Is the way you work preventing some groups of people standing for council?
* Taken from A councillor's workbook on equality, diversity and inclusion | Local Government Association
Training
How Councils can recruit a more diverse pool of local councillors
Equality, diversity and inclusion essentials
Useful links
National Networks
LGBT+ Councillors Network
The LGBT+ councillors network fosters a supportive and inclusive environment for parish and town councillors who are part of the LGBT+ community.
Women Councillors Network
The women councillors network is for women councillors currently serving on a parish or town council. It provides a supportive platform for discussing challenges, sharing experiences, and developing strategies to enhance their effectiveness in their roles.
Young Councillors Network
The young councillors network is for younger councillors aged under 40 who are currently serving on a parish or town council.
Calendar
January
4 – World braille day
19 – World religion day
20 – Martin Luther King Jr day
25 – Robert Burns night (Burns night)
27 – Holocaust memorial day
February
1 – World hijab day
1-7 – World interfaith harmony week
3-9 – UK race equality week
10 Feb - Chinese New Year
3-9 – Children’s mental health week
11 – International day of women and girls in science
March
1 – Zero discrimination day
1 – Self-injury awareness day (SIAD)
1 – International wheelchair day
3 – World hearing day
5-7 – TUC's women's conference
8 – International women’s day
17 - St. Patrick's Day
17-23 – Neurodiversity celebration week
21 – International day for the elimination of racial discrimination
21 – World down syndrome day
24 – World tuberculosis (TB) day
25 – International day of remembrance of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade
April
2 – World autism awareness day
7 – World health day
8 – International Romani day
9 Apr - Ramadan begins
11-13 – TUC's black workers' conference
14 Apr - Vaisakhi
22 – Earth day
23 Apr - Saint George’s Day
25 – World malaria day
May
5-11 – Deaf awareness week
12-18 – Mental health awareness week
15 – Global accessibility awareness day
17 – International day against homophobia, transphobia and biphobia
20-21 – TUC's disabled workers' conference
21 – World day for cultural diversity for dialogue and development
June
8 – Race unity day
9-15 – Men’s health week
14 – Global wellness day
15-21 – Refugee week
20 – World refugee day
22 – UK Windrush day
July
18 – Nelson Mandela international day
18 Jul-17 Aug – South Asian heritage month
August
September
10 – World suicide prevention day
21 – World Alzheimer’s day
22-28 – UK national inclusion week
23 – International day of sign language
24 Sep - Sukkot begins
October
1 – Anniversary of the introduction of the Equality Act
1 – International day of older persons
10 – World mental health day
17 – Show Racism the Red Card’s wear red day
18 – World menopause day
29 – World stroke day
November
9 – Remembrance Sunday
11 – Armistice day
11 Nov - Diwali
13 – World kindness day
13-19 – Transgender awareness week
14 – World diabetes day
19 – International men’s day
25 – International day for the elimination of violence against women
December
3 – International day of persons with disabilities
10 – Human rights day
18 – International migrants’ day
20 – International human solidarity day