Representatives from 70% of businesses at Paddington Central connect with each other and local partners through the cross-campus network called IDEA Paddington (Inclusive, Diversity, Equality, Action Network). Chi Kurangwa of Kingfisher, Farah Mohammoud of You Press and Fusnara Begum of British Land reflect on the impact this has had for their organisations and the importance of accessing diverse talent.
Paddington Central is British Land’s 11 acre mixed use campus in Westminster. It is home to a variety of customers, including global companies Kingfisher, Microsoft and Visa. Local partners include You Press, a grassroots social enterprise that empowers young people and underrepresented communities to be seen and heard through media and arts training programmes and services. British Land brings customers and local communities together for mutual benefits.
Connecting and learning
Fusnara: There is a natural curiosity to know how different organisations work, what they focus on and, most importantly, how they contribute to employee wellbeing, looking beyond people’s roles to who they are and their experiences. The cross-campus diversity and inclusion network meetings are a hub of great debate and valuable discovery for all who attend.
Chi: Being part of the IDEA Paddington network has been a great network to share and shape thinking on diversity and inclusion. It’s so helpful to hear what businesses in our area are doing and what’s worked for them. From setting up affinity networks for success, to Black History Month activities, we’ve adapted some of those great ideas to suit our business. We’re all learning from each other. It’s inspiring to see where other companies started and where they are now.
Through the network, we’ve also met social enterprises working in our local community. This led to us partnering with You Press and young people to create a series of podcasts for our employees on mental health, Black History Month and International Men’s Day in 2020. These all proved popular; a lot of people engaged with the content.
Fusnara: Paddington Central brings together world class organisations who prioritise their team members and connect with local organisations across Westminster to provide positive impact for people and groups who work, live and play locally.
Farah: We’ve connected with some amazing people through the IDEA Paddington network and delivered projects together, always involving local young people from underrepresented communities. For the Kingfisher project, young people came up with concepts and facilitated conversations for the podcasts, working with senior leaders and people of different ages and life experiences.
Not only did this progress their personal development and careers, more importantly, the young people used their skills and knowledge and had their voices heard. This was particularly valuable during the pandemic when they were isolated at home, unable to go to university, without work and not using their skills. There was a mental health benefit.
Diversity and innovation
Chi: Often, young people are only employed in junior positions, where their voices aren’t heard. This could mean businesses are missing out on new opinions and suggestions. It was young people who guided us to try podcasts, which have been an effective way of connecting with people across the business. There’s a lot to be gained from external conversations and viewpoints that challenge and inspire.
Farah: Working with young people, we see how much hidden talent is out there. We just finished our programme called ASPIRE for emerging artists who want to break into the creative industry. The calibre of skills was incredible – from web developers to graphic designers. Yet they don’t have confidence, or no one is opening doors for them. How is this possible? Companies are missing out!
Chi: Recruiting and working with people more widely helps businesses grow. If a company designing products involves people from diverse backgrounds with varied needs, what they create is more innovative and hits a wider audience. It’s also about allowing individuals to be their full selves; that’s how an employer can harness true potential. In turn, this increases the positive impacts that businesses have on communities. We all have a role to play in creating this inclusive society.
Fusnara: Diversity of age, culture, sex, socio-economic background and education creates unique opportunities for personal and business growth. Different perspectives and approaches provide experiences that all parties can learn from and develop. Being invited to participate in inclusive projects and conversations is powerful.
Collaborating and celebrating
Farah: Through collaborative partnerships, we’ve expanded what we do and discovered new ways of working. Fusnara connected us with amazing partners like Kingfisher; together, we then created new pathways for young people. This also helped us to survive the pandemic. We’re already exploring opportunities for new collaborations. I’d love to see more progression routes for young people. So, as we develop their confidence and skills, they continue to advance with our partners through pathways of mentoring, placements and job outcomes.
Chi: My hope for the future is that we no longer need to talk about inclusion because everybody can be themselves. When people see themselves reflected and represented in the workplace, we won’t have to ask whether an employer has a diverse talent pool. When those brilliant things that mark someone as different are celebrated – race, gender, LGBT+, religion, abilities – then we can focus on solving other world issues!
Fusnara: As a client of You Press, we also have first-hand experience of working with their team of young, highly skilled freelancers, who have helped us pivot our key enlivenment campaigns to creative online delivery, from creating an International Women’s Day 2021 campaign video (watch here), to hosting and interviewing Charlie Phillips for ‘A Photographer's Odyssey’ in celebration of Black History Month 2020 (watch here). Aside from the excellent content created, the professional impact and positive feedback from those involved further encourages us to provide more opportunities to support another person’s future success.
Feedback from young creative freelancers
"Hosting the podcast with You Press and Kingfisher was a great experience that enabled me to connect with a range of new people despite the lockdown restrictions. We were able to have meaningful conversations about important topics. It’s extremely necessary to create safe spaces like this to fight against prejudice and allow colleagues to be their authentic selves. It also helped me to develop my leadership skills.”
"I had the great pleasure of co-hosting a podcast for Kingfisher. The experience was a first for me as I’d only ever been on the receiving end of a question, and so the responsibility of having to pose questions and actively be involved in an exchange with the interviewees was incredibly refreshing.”
"The topics Kingfisher chose to discuss were incredibly relevant to today’s climate and the responses we got from the interviewees were both insightful and open, allowing us to jump in further by posing even better and more tailored follow-up questions.”
Watch a video by young creatives on working with Paddington Central and You Press here.
Visit You Press to find out more about their freelancers.
If you are based at Paddington Central and wish to attend an IDEA Paddington Network meeting, please email: [email protected]
Customer Networks
British Land facilitates and supports customer collaborations on shared interests. These include IDEA Paddington, the Broadgate Mental Health Network and Regent’s Place Community Fund, as well as environmental and LGBT+ groups.