Over 140 workforce colleagues from sectors across Bradford District and Craven came together on Tuesday 7 November 2023 for an event exploring how everyone can make a personal commitment and take action to make the district a fairer place to live and work.
Hosted at Kala Sangam by Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership’s Reducing Inequalities Alliance, the day included a panel session, a guest speaker and a series of interactive workshops.
The event started with a welcome from Dr Sohail Abbas, director – Reducing Inequalities Alliance, who shared the Alliance’s animated film, which tells the story of the stark inequalities we see across our district and how we’re working together to reduce these inequalities.
The Alliance’s associate director Duncan Cooper set attendees a challenge to go away from the day:
- Having met someone new and
- Identifying one thing everyone commits to doing differently as a result of the event.
Duncan also launched the Alliance’s call to action document. The document describes the types of inequalities that exist locally in Bradford District and Craven and will help colleagues understand the actions they can take to reduce inequalities and ultimately close the life expectancy gap. People can view and share the document using this link: www.bit.ly/InequalitiesCallToAction. It is also on our Alliance webpage.
Fatima Khan-Shah, West Yorkshire Inclusivity Champion at West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Chair of the West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership Strategic Race Equality Network was the guest speaker at the event. Fatima spoke about her role as an inclusivity champion, shared a personal story about what inequality means to her and set out her vision: an inclusive society, where regardless of their background, anyone can achieve their full potential in life.
In the afternoon, colleagues had the opportunity to join two workshops to learn about specific areas of inequalities. The workshops on offer were:
- The role of research in reducing inequalities
- How Bradford as the City of Culture can play a role in reducing inequalities
- The role of trust in reducing the impact of inequalities
- Systems Leadership for Inequalities – lessons from Living Well (prevention)
- Co-production with communities
- Core20Plus5: Working collaboratively at a hyperlocal level to address inequalities
To wrap up the day, colleagues were then asked to reflect on the day and think about what they had learnt and the action they would take to address an inequality they’re passionate about. Each attendee filled out a postcard which will be sent as a reminder to them in six months’ time.
The event closed with a passionate speech from Dr Sohail Abbas, who talked about hope for the future.
Dr Sohail Abbas, director – Reducing Inequalities Alliance, Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership said: “We must work together and the time to do that is now. We will not be satisfied until we build a place where our chances of living a long, happy, and healthy life is determined by our shared purpose, resilience of our communities and positioning of our collective resources rather than by who we are, where we live or how much we earn.
“That requires us to first develop ourselves, develop our awareness of inequalities, take action that is within our sphere of control and become the advocates, and second to bring more people to this cause, develop networks and relationships, support each other, and create a movement. That movement is the ultimate goal of reducing inequalities alliance. Our event was another landmark moment in building that movement. Let’s refresh our pledges, revive our energies, and strengthen our alliance as we need this on the long journey ahead. And have hope, as it is hope that gives the strength to achieve impossible goals.”
View more inequalities blogs below or on our Reducing Inequalities Alliance webpage. To write a blog about inequalities work you’re involved in, please email ria@bradford.nhs.uk
More inequalities blogs
