Melin recognised at Welsh Housing Awards for championing equality and diversity

This award highlights organisations in Welsh housing that lead in creating inclusive, equitable communities. The award “recognises organisations leading on promoting equality and diversity within their businesses.” It seeks to showcase how organisations in the Welsh housing sector create “meaningful change and [contribute] to building a truly inclusive community.”

Our approach to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is something we are very proud of. EDI is embedded in every level of our association, helping to foster a culture that is inclusive, fair, and free from discrimination. We know that a culture that values diversity and inclusion helps to bring out the best in everyone, valuing diverse talents to improve services and build strong communities.

One of our most notable achievements is becoming the first housing association in Wales to secure the prestigious QED Leaders Award in August 2024. This national accreditation underscores their leadership in equality and diversity practices. This would not have been possible without the partnership we have developed with Tai Pawb and their ongoing support in our EDI journey.

Some of our key milestones and achievements in embedding EDI across our association have included:

• Establishing an accessibility working group and updating job advertisements for inclusivity.
• Conducting unconscious bias training with staff and board and revising policies to ensure fairness in hiring.
• Partnering with disability and race organisations to attract diverse applicants and improve representation within our staff and board.
• Working with other housing associations and universities to provide opportunities for underrepresented groups, including internships for international students.
• Collecting and analysing EDI data to inform decisions and better serve tenants, with a focus on hard-to-reach groups.
• Signing the Stonewall HouseProud pledge, which commits us to improving the quality of life for LGBTQ+ residents in our communities
• A dramatic rise in staff disclosing disabilities (from 0.8% to 20.4%), reflecting a more inclusive workplace culture.
• Collection of 93% of staff EDI data, enabling data-driven improvements.
• Focus groups with ethnic minority staff and those with disabilities have driven meaningful organisational changes.
• Improved accessibility across communications, ensuring inclusivity in all formats.
• A recommissioned satisfaction survey now analyses feedback by disability, race, and age, allowing for more inclusive resident engagement.

Winning the 'Excellence in Championing Equality and Diversity' award is a wonderful way to celebrate the work we have done in EDI over the last year and more. However, we know that there is more to be done. We look forward to continuing to work on our EDI targets as we move closer to our merger with Newport City Homes and become stewards of even more diverse group of communities and networks across the region.