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RISE Awards
All participants in the RIA Annual Conference are cordially invited to join us for an evening of celebration and networking on 4 November 2020.
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The evening will commence at 19:00 with a virtual cocktail masterclass with the renowned Hedgerow Spirits. Your choice of alcoholic or non-alcoholic gin package is included in your delegate ticket and will be shipped on 23 October (make sure to book your ticket in time!).
Our hosts Pete Waterman and Paul Clifton will then lead through an exciting evening, celebrating all those amazing award winners and short-listed nominations. A top-class raffle in aid of RIA’s chosen charity partner 2020, the Railway Benefit Fund, networking opportunities and a second cocktail making session will round off the event in style.
Look out for more news about the evening, including short-listed award entries, judges, and details on how to support the RFB raffle, in our RISE Awards brochure and website soon! “As President of the Railway Benefit Fund (RBF) and a huge rail supporter, it is my pleasure to be hosting the second annual RISE Awards, showcasing supplier excellence, on the opening night of the RIA Annual Conference.
I look forward to celebrating the nominees and winners for the impact and value they have brought to the industry during what has been a very difficult year. A timely opportunity to recognise so much excellence, innovation and resilience from RIA members.
As RIA’s Charity of the Year, RBF are grateful to be benefiting from the charity raffle to be drawn on the night. Dig deep for some fabulous prizes knowing that the money raised will go towards helping the UK Railway Family through tough times. We are delighted that RIA have already raised over £4,000 for RBF during the year which makes a huge difference to the work we do. Thank you or your support and generosity.”
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WOMEN IN RAIL: WORKING TOGETHER TO IMPROVE GENDER BALANCE, EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN UK RAIL
Women in Rail (WR), a charity founded in Key partners of WR include NSAR, RSSB, RDG, 2012, comprises men and women from the BEIS and of course, the DfT. UK railway sector, working together alongside major stakeholders in the industry to support The membership of WR currently includes 5,000 the development, promotion and attraction of representatives of all grades and roles from a wide women in the UK railway sector and, more broadly, range of companies within the UK rail industry. improve gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion in rail. Attraction By forging partnerships with like-minded groups With a more gender diverse workforce comes and actively supporting their initiatives, WR aims different experiences and skill sets, as well as new to position rail as an attractive career choice for ideas and ways of working, all of which ultimately young women. This involves showcasing existing bring about positive changes and economic and upcoming female talent and role models, competitiveness. It is therefore crucial to develop for instance, in its reports identifying the 20 Most female talent and promote the rail industry as an Inspirational Women in UK rail (2016) and the 20 attractive career choice to young girls. Rising Stars of UK rail (2017). Challenge, a day of fun where diverse teams go
Support WR holds regular networking events and workshops across the UK through its 8 regional groups, bringing together women and men from across the rail industry and providing them with a forum to expand their network and explore some of the key issues which they have identified as holding them back in their career.
WR runs a successful cross-industry mentoring programme where women receive guidance mostly in non-decision making roles, and identified
from senior professionals within the industry to develop their confidence and professional skills. Since 2020, the programme also welcomes male mentees to be mentored by a senior female mentor, to the extent possible.
Development female talent, engage with their employees and work with them to foster the next generation of female leaders, improve diversity and inclusion and help secure and retain talent. For the last 4 years, WR has hosted an awards ceremony, the Women in Rail Awards to celebrate the charity’s core values and showcase inspirational colleagues, peers, managers, teams and organisations who are working hard to improve gender balance, equality, diversity and inclusion in the UK rail industry. The charity also runs the hugely successful Big Rail Diversity head to head in physical and mental challenges.
Campaigning WR was the first to release an industry-wide surveys of the male:female ratio and skills gap in the UK rail sector in 2015. The survey revealed that 16.4% of the workforce in UK rail are women, WR encourages key stakeholders to identify their
the skills gap.
In 2019, WR launched SWIFT, a peer-to-peer network of senior men and women in rail whose purpose is to develop high potential women and foster the next generation of female leaders in UK rail.
