Preston North End are delighted to have been awarded Silver as part of the EFL New Equality Code of Practice – a landmark moment for the football club.
PNE’s ED&I working group has worked tirelessly as a collective over many years to focus on priority groups in which under-representation exists, under the Equality Act 2010, to ensure that individuals are not discriminated against based on their characteristics on the grounds of: Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and civil partnership, Pregnancy and maternity, Race, Religion or belief, Sex, and Sexual orientation.
The club’s focus areas over the past 24 months have been to analyse the ED&I data collected from supporters and staff workforce on areas of under-representation, in conjunction with the local demographic data. From this, an Equality Action Plan has been developed which can be found here. The three key areas are:
1. Ethnically Diverse Groups
2. Disability
3. Equality Campaigns
This will allow the club to take encouraging and important steps in its continual efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across the entirety of Preston North End FC, Preston North End Community and Education Trust and the local communities in Preston.
The club have been working closely with the Preston North End Community and Education Trust to launch the #OneNorthEnd campaign. All policies and procedures have been reviewed to ensure these are aligned with the club’s commitment to ED&I and over 1,000 individuals have been engaged with across the dedicated ED&I campaigns.
The club and Trust have undertaken new projects and will continue to do so, such as;
- HD Sunflower Partnership
- Multi-faith rooms for use on a matchday
- Continuously improve the Halal food offerings for supporters and staff
- Celebrate key religious festivals amongst the communities that we serve
- Fully support all EFL key initiatives across each season
- Provide ongoing Mental Health & Wellbeing support
- Preston welcomes Refugees programme
- Her Game Too
- Proud to host large scale Iftar during Ramadan
- New quiet zone and the introduction of complimentary hire of ear defenders
The club and Trust are committed to all aspects of ED&I and will continue to work hard to eradicate all forms of discrimination and promote an inclusive environment for all. This is not something that can be done alone, and all staff and supporters alike are expected to come together to positively impact ED&I throughout.
#OneNorthEnd
