Creating a Society for everyone

It’s important to us to be a Society for everyone. June is Pride Month, and an opportunity to reflect on how we’re striving to be a more inclusive organisation. And, of course, talk about what we’re doing to support our LGBTQ+ community.

Building the right foundations

We want to be a truly inclusive and diverse workplace. We believe this will help us build the right foundations and a culture that our people and our members are proud of. 

However, we know that homeownership is neither inclusive nor diverse – and that it needs to be more accessible to all.  The first steps to tackling this are uncovering the reasons for disparity and ensuring we listen to, represent, and understand all those we wish to support. That way we’ll give more people equal opportunity to owning a home.

Some of the steps forward we’ve already taken include:

• Adding the option for members to use the ‘Mx’ title
• Allowing transitioning members to open accounts without needing acquired gender ID
• Showing our support for the LGBTQ+ community during Pride month and getting involved in Leeds and Northern Pride events

Why Pride matters to us

Our LGBTQ+ forum brings together colleagues from all over the Society with ideas to promote inclusion. Here’s why Pride is important to our colleagues:

“Pride means so much to me as it’s one of the only times that I can fully be myself. Being surrounded by members of the community feels so warm and safe – it’s a feeling I can’t really put into words. .” – Victoria Kenny, Intermediary Business Development Advisor, and Chair of the LGBTQ+ Network.

“Pride is a celebration of being yourself and an opportunity to feel comfortable in your own skin. Every time I attend a Pride event, I get to meet so many different people from all walks of life who come together to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.” – Matthew Clissold, Customer Service Advisor.

Pride 2023

We supported Leeds Pride once again in August 2023. It was a fantastic occasion, with friends, colleagues, and members joining in with the parties and parades. We also sponsored Northern Pride for the first time, giving people another opportunity to show their support and have a great time with us.

We’ve put together this video from both Pride events to celebrate being a Society for everyone.