Posted: Friday 7 February 2020, 20:02
Deserving wins for Former Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive of Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service, Terry McDermott and Positive Action Officer Rachel Salmon at the East Midlands Regional Stonewall Awards.
This evening organisations and individuals from across the East Midlands attended an awards ceremony held at the Antenna Media Centre, Nottingham to celebrate and reward exceptional and outstanding work in the field of LGBT Inclusion.
Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service (DFRS) is really proud to announce that Derbyshire’s Former Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive, Terry McDermott has been named as the Senior LGBT Champion for the East Midlands Region 2020 and Positive Action Officer and LGBT+ & Allies Co-Chair, Rachel Salmon has been named as the LGBT Role Model of the Year 2020.
Speaking at the awards, Derbyshire’s Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive Gavin Tomlinson said: “Both Terry and Rachel are deserving recipients, both having taken a proactive role in delivering diversity in the workplace and both being integral to promoting the rights of our colleagues and communities.
“This great news also reaffirms the positive changes we are making across the Service - jumping 250 places over the last four years to be named as one of Britain’s Top 100 LGBT inclusive employers in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index 2020, one of the top three fire and rescue services.
“Our drive to further embed inclusion and equality across the Service was also reflected in the first independent inspection carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Service’s (HMICFRS) in which DFRS was acknowledged as ‘outstanding’ for promoting the right values and culture across the Service – all of this work is thanks to dedicated people like Terry and Rachel.
“On behalf of everyone at Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service I would like to congratulate both Terry and Rachel. The work that they have both carried out, alongside everyone in the Service, really has and is making a difference and I know that we have the right people working to ensure we continue to embed equality, diversity and inclusion into the heart of our work, both with our communities and also across our workforce.”