The Top 10 Most Inclusive Employers for the Charity Sector list recognises inclusive charity employers in the UK and shines a light on best practice across all strands of diversity – age, disability, gender LGBT+, race, faith and religion.

The list was released yesterday (1^st December) by Inclusive Companies and compiled by a dedicated advisory panel, based on organisations’ performance in a range of areas within the diversity arena.

Paul Sesay, CEO and Founder of Inclusive Companies, said: “Police Now’s progress in the D&I space has been making steady strides over the past couple of years, significantly increasing HQ representation.

“Our judging panel were particularly impressed with the changes made to their recruitment process, which includes utilising an accessibility toolkit within their application system and implementing blind screening to help remove the potential of implicit bias or adverse impact at the screening stages of their process.

“Their D&I committee help us set, monitor, and evaluate our D&I strategy, and have developed a ‘D&I book club’, which circulates newsletters and resources to promote understanding and share awareness.

“Police Now have strong female representation across the organisation which remains steady and have established three networks (LGBTQ+, Parents and Careers and Neurodiversity) with others being created (Women’s, Race and Disability).

“Sustainable change takes time, but through their continued focus on active inclusion, I have no doubt Police Now will continue to increase their ranking and create a workplace representative of the community they serve.”

Joni Ferns, Chief Operating Officer for Police Now, said: “We are dedicated to ensuring Police Now is an inclusive place to work, and we are proud to be included in the Top 10 Inclusive Employers in the Charity Sector this year alongside some fantastic organisations. 

“Achieving true diversity and inclusivity is a journey, however, and there remains a long way to go until we can confidently say workplaces reflect our communities at every level and that anyone from any background can thrive regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or disability. 

“We must always put diversity, inclusion and positive action at the heart of everything we do – both within Police Now HQ and across the programmes that we run in the policing sector – to ensure that our officers and staff bring the diversity of their backgrounds, skills and perspectives to build public confidence on the policing frontline and help communities thrive.” 

Police Now also recently rose to number 28 in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers – up 62 places since it first joined the rankings in 2018 – and has won a number of other awards this year for its diversity and inclusion initiatives.