2015 EiDA Nominee – The Co-operative Group

Respect is the Co-operative Group’s inclusive lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender network which is made up of a dedicated LGBT Steering Group from across the organisation’s family of businesses. The network provides voluntary support to raise awareness of LGBT community initiatives, local pride events and charities such as the George House Trust and Albert Kennedy Trust. In previous years, the co-operative featured in stonewalls top five employers and was listed as the most gay friendly retailer across the UK – the only retailer to feature in the Top 100 and the first to make it into the Top 10. The network is impressively the largest LGBT network in the UK with over 8,500 ‘Friends of Respect’; Over 1,300 of these are employees. Since the group established 5 years ago, they have achieved an extraordinary amount – not only supporting colleagues internally but supporting over 80 pride events such as Manchester Pride and Sparkle. Respect is also the most followed UK LGBT Network on twitter with over 9,000 followers.

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