The Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme promotes understanding and provides good practice guidance around issues of sexual orientation in the workplace. Membership to the Programme provides access to good practice sharing, networking opportunities and research.

Of the 46 Fire & Rescue Services in England, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service is proud to be one of the 20 Services who are currently members of the Stonewall programme and has enjoyed their affiliation for the past three years.

Cheryl Rolph, Assistant Chief Officer, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, said:

"Of the 317 employers who are members of the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service were awarded 211th place in the Workplace Equality Index 2009.

The Service has a clear commitment to positively promoting issues of sexuality and, although we are delighted with this ranking, there is still room for improvement.

We intend to work closely with Stonewall and Brighton & Hove City Council, who were awarded 3rd place in the Index, to share best working practices and to benchmark against other member organisations in order to uphold our intention to boost this placing."

In recognition of the benefits that membership to the Diversity Champions Programme brings, Fire Minister, Sadiq Khan, and the Fire & Rescue Services' associations and unions have urged all Fire & Rescue Services to sign up to the Stonewall Diversity Champions Programme to help tackle any feelings of inequality and homophobia.

In a letter to every Fire & Rescue Service in England, the Minister said:

"If we are to attract and recruit the best people to the Fire & Rescue Service from the widest pool of talent, then all must know that they are welcome, that there is equality of opportunity and they will be treated with dignity and respect. Their sexual orientation is an irrelevance."

Further to it's placing in the Stonewall Index, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service was thrilled to be voted 3rd in the 'Best Fire & Rescue Service' category of the national 'Pink Paper Readers' Awards 2009'. The Pink Paper is a free national lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans newspaper which is distributed all over the UK and holds the biggest lesbian and gay awards in Britain.