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Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service joins Business Disability Forum

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) is proud to have joined the Business Disability Forum, further solidifying our commitment to supporting disabled people within the Service and our communities.

The Business Disability Forum is a not-for-profit membership organisation, aiming to help other organisations become fully accessible to disabled service users and employees. They promote best practice and work with organisations to set and influence policy so that it benefits both organisations and disabled people. In addition to this, they provide practical tools and resources to help embed inclusive practices in organisations, recognising that none of us sit in just one “box” and that disability interlinks with all other aspects of diversity.

In joining the Business Disability Forum, RBFRS joins over 300 other organisations in making a commitment to creating a ‘disability smart world’. For us, this means expanding our work to make RBFRS an accessible organisation for all. This includes building on our position as a Level 2 Disability Confident Organisation, and our participation in the Leonard Cheshire Change100 programme, which has seen 19 interns with disabilities or long term health conditions undertake paid placements within the Service since 2017. This forms part of our wider work to ensure RBFRS is more accessible for all members of our community, which includes our commitment to members of the Armed Forces community through the Armed Forces Covenant and the launch of our Armed Forces Veterans’ Hub.

Nikki Richards, Director of Support Services, said: “We are really pleased to announce that we have joined the Business Disability Forum. We have been working hard to increase the diversity of our organisation for a number of years because we know it will improve the service we give to the public. We hope our membership will send a strong message to potential employees that Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is an inclusive employer.”

To find out more about equality, diversity and inclusion at Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service, please visit: rbfrs.co.uk/equalitydiversityinclusion