Employees at Bupa Place in Salford have today unveiled giant new artwork to celebrate diversity and inclusion ahead of Manchester Pride.
Employees at Bupa Place in Salford have today unveiled giant new artwork to celebrate diversity and inclusion ahead of Manchester Pride.
Launched as part of Project Pride – to help celebrate Pride across the city – Bupa colleagues have been invited to place their handprints onto a 3.6m x 5.2m mural, which is being publicly displayed on Salford Quays.
The initiative was created by Bupa’s DiverCity team and Community Committee who work closely to promote community cohesion and raise awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and local community.
Over 150 Bupa colleagues will be taking part in this year’s Pride parade, with the organisation also inviting their friends and families to walk the route. Elsewhere as part of Project Pride, Bupa will be giving a Pride themed makeover to the Bupa Cube. Traditionally blue, the 3x3 metre cube outside the company’s office will be recoloured with the rainbow flag. Bupa has also sponsored Sparkle Pride and the Pink Picnic in Salford this year.
Currently ranked seventh in a list of the 100 LGBT+ top executives – as compiled by the OUTstanding organisation and the Financial Times – David Hynam knows the importance of promoting diversity.
The Bupa Global & UK CEO said: “Manchester Pride is such a brilliant event, so I’m delighted to see our colleagues throw their support behind it. More than that, I hope that these public installations will encourage others to do the same.”
At the opening of Bupa Place last year, David launched Bupa’s ‘Everyone’s Welcome’ pledge – a public commitment to diversity and inclusion across the business. David Hynam explains “With over 2,000 colleagues in our Salford office and 25,000 employees in the UK, it’s vital that we’re creating a culture where staff feel supported and comfortable in bringing their whole self to work. In fact, we work towards the ambition of ‘Be You at Bupa’ to make sure we’re celebrating diversity every day.”
Following its success at Bupa Place – a £65m development which is home to over 2,000 colleagues – the pledge has since been rolled out across all Bupa UK sites.
Nikki Williams, Quality Consultant, Manchester Lead for the DiverCity team and Chair for LGBTQi+, Bupa, added: “Project Pride is all about celebrating people’s differences and creating an atmosphere where everyone feels comfortable to be themselves. The artwork is a brilliant and visual way to help encourage this, and I’m really proud of the hard work and dedication that everyone’s put in already. It’s been a real collaborative effort, and everyone has been incredibly supportive of the project. It really does prove that everyone is welcome here at Bupa.”
Designed by Akanksha Adivarekar, who works as a Retention Advisor at Bupa’s Staines office, the mural will be displayed on Salford Quays from 20th August to 13th September. The design will also be replicated on t-shirts and placards for Bupa employees taking part in the Pride parade on August 24th.
Akanksha Adivarekar commented: “I am honoured that my artwork is being used for Manchester Pride 2019. This piece was created as a result of collaboration and passion to inspire inclusion and diversity which is something we are really proud of celebrating at Bupa. This artwork depicts strength of the LGBTQi+ community as the theme at Pride this year is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. I’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response.”
Notes to editor
For further information please contact Laura Tompkins on [email protected] or 07595461287.
About Bupa
Bupa's purpose is helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives and making a better world.
We are an international healthcare company serving over 31 million customers worldwide. With no shareholders, we reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers.
We directly employ around 85,000 people, principally in the UK, Australia, Spain, Chile, Poland, New Zealand, Hong Kong SAR, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, the US, Middle East and Ireland. We also have associate businesses in Saudi Arabia and India.
