Cardonald Receives LGBT Award
11 February 2010
Cardonald College Glasgow has been presented with the Lesbian Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Charter Mark recently for the commitment the College has shown to LGBT equality.
Hugh Donaghy, Glasgow Youth Team Leader and Hugh Torrance, Director of Development of LGBT Youth Scotland presented the Charter Mark to Susan Walsh on the 29th January.
The Charter Mark recognises that the College has completed the steps outlined in the LGBT Charter of Rights to support and value lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The Gender/Sexual Orientation Subgroup was established at Cardonald in January 2008 and since then have provided a range of LGBT activities and services including:
- identified a champion for LGBT people
- displaying the LGBT Charter of Rights
- delivered training to staff
- appointed an LGBT Officer to the SRC
- involved LGBT Youth Scotland and other specialist services in events and Fresher's Fayres
- hosted LGBT social events.
The LGBT Charter of Rights is a process which helps everyone in an organisation focus on the quality of services they provide for LGBT people.
Created by a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people, the charter is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It describes basic rights such as the right to be yourself, the right to be kept safe from harm and the right to be healthy, which most people take for granted.
Equality & Inclusion Manager, Nancy Birney commented: "The LGBT Charter of Rights has helped to ensure the inclusive culture of our service and plays a part in creating a future where all LGBT people are valued, included and supported. We will continue to evaluate our services to ensure that the needs of all of our service users, including LGBT people are being met."
Cardonald is one of the first colleges in the country to receive the Mark and will be hosting a celebration of the achievement very soon.