Teaming Up With Notable UK Charities To Help Put An End To LGBTQ+ Homelessness And Raise Awareness For Sexual Health

At M&S, we understand the importance of respecting and valuing each other’s differences, and helping each other be the best version of ourselves. When our people can bring their whole selves to work, we know they feel better and perform better – which is good for all of us. We also know that to continue to be successful, we must understand and reflect our diverse customer base and the communities in which they live. We’re part of hundreds of communities across the country – so we’re supporting community inclusion causes we know our colleagues and customers care about the most.

That's why we actively encourage our colleagues to collaborate with various charities around the business, and offer a volunteering day to every colleague, to work with a charity of their choice. Over the years, we've witnessed first-hand what can be achieved when we come together and celebrate our differences. Our colleagues and customers feel more supported and unified, and as a business, we've solidified our position as an equal opportunities employer.

LGBTQ+ Network

Open to all members of the LGBTQ+ community and spectrum (and their allies), our colleague LGBTQ+ network promotes equality, celebrates inclusivity and diversity, and encourages everyone to be themselves – whatever their sexual or gender identity. The network hosts a Teams group, with safe spaces for supportive conversations, together with a number of events and talking points throughout the year.

Our Network Co-Chair and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community Jamie Ayers said: "Our LGBTQ+ network is a forum for our colleagues to discuss openly, or within our safe space, any thoughts, issues and ideas. The network actively works with the business to deliver for our colleagues and customers around key events, such as LGBTQ+ History Month and Pride. We have many achievements that we're proud of, including the option to include personal pronouns on our colleague name badges.

M&S works actively with a number of charitable partners within the LGBTQ+ community, both within our colleague space and more widely with our customers. We're excited that our customers have the opportunity to donate to akt every time they shop through their Sparks card."

Another one of our fantastic colleagues, Team Manager Joel Milnes, is passionate about sharing the stories of members of the LGBTQ+ community, and raising awareness of the issues they've faced. He recently released the first episode in his podcast saga 'Queer as Blokes', which has reached international recognition, with listeners from Germany, France, Spain, the UK and the USA!

"I'd spent a long time trying to figure out a creative outlet that worked for me. The idea of a podcast came to me in what seemed like an epiphany! I wanted to create something that focuses on normal, everyday people and their lives. Many of my friends from the LGBTQ+ community are older than I am, and have always been keen to share their stories with me. It was when my friend Noel talked to me about working through the 80's AIDS crisis in a Brighton hospital that inspired me to get something recorded. It fascinated me how he and people from the community dealt with such pain and sadness.

Noel shared with me that he often nursed people during the day, then danced with them in the clubs at night! It was so inspiring to hear people still living their lives to the fullest in such tragic circumstances. I've chatted about Faith vs Sexuality, dealing with suicide and living with HIV. The goal of the podcast is to share the lives of everyday people. If someone can be informed, inspired or simply entertained, then I'm happy!  Queer as Blokes tagline is "Discovering the untold history of Queer life, one story at a time".

If you'd like to listen, you can visit Joel's Instagram at @queerasblokes, or listen directly on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2UqMF2HzLHrBXLYqxIpivi?si=zqzPqyx-TW-hA1O_HtC5Aw

Albert Kennedy Trust (akt):

The Albert Kennedy Trust (akt) is a national LGBTQ+ youth homelessness UK-registered charity that provides safe homes, support and better futures for LGBTQ+ young people. Nearly one quarter of all young people facing or experiencing homelessness identify as LGBTQ+, and 77% of those say rejection or abuse from their families is what led them to being homeless. The charity operates in London, Manchester, Newcastle and Bristol, and also provides an online service across the UK.

Over the last 30 years, akt has provided over 250,000 nights off the street and supported over 50,000 LGBTQ+ young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. More recently, they've supported over 700 young LGBTQ+ people facing homelessness and abuse during the pandemic simply for being who they are.

We started working with akt in 2019, donating £15,000 raised through sales of our LGBTQ+ sandwich and Pride inspired t-shirts. As part of our 'Spark Something Good' initiative in the same year, a number of our colleagues from our LGBTQ+ network volunteered to help paint one of their shelters, an admirable achievement which we're immensely proud of.

Our customers can also join us in supporting akt too, by selecting akt as their chosen charity through M&S via Sparks. We donate to each Sparks customer’s chosen charity every time they shop with us – whether in-store, online or via the M&S app. Last September, we announced we'd made our one billionth donation, as we hit a huge donation milestone of £10m to Sparks' deserving charity partners.

Terrence Higgins Trust

The Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is the UK's leading HIV and sexual health charity. They support people living with HIV, amplify their voices, and help people using their services achieve good sexual health. They also provide testing services for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and as well as providing services, they campaign on issues ranging from relationships and sex education in schools to the proper funding of HIV services.

On behalf of Public Health England, they coordinate the national HIV prevention programme 'It Starts With Me', which coincides with their strategy targets: end new transmissions of HIV in the UK by 2030, support people to live well with HIV, challenge the stigma associated with HIV and with poor sexual health, and deliver high quality services.

One of our Team Managers, Stacey Greig, dedicated his volunteering days to support the Terrence Higgins Trust: "I’ve volunteered twice for the THT through our designated charity days at M&S. I found it rewarding to support our community, and also had the opportunity to meet other M&S colleagues from the LGBTQIA+ and allies communities.

The THT really welcomed us and gave great insights into their work, support, and how important it is for people to volunteer. As part of my volunteering days, we packed condoms and lube for them to give away as part of their HIV/STI prevention strategy, and then went around SoHo promoting the THT and HIV prevention."

Last year, we turned our flagship Marble Arch store red for World AIDS Day, to raise awareness and show support for the millions of people worldwide living with HIV. Internally, following talks with Stonewall and akt, we've made resources more readily available for our colleagues by creating a new Inclusion Hub, which includes support documents and educational sessions on 'How to be an Ally', raising awareness, and HIV testing.

We're extremely proud to have also been able to fund the food and drink supplies for the launch event of London's new LGBTQ+ Pop-up Community Centre, and for the first few days of the café’s opening. The pop-up came about as a response to the severe isolation and loneliness the LGBTQ+ community has felt since lockdown began, and aims to provide some comfort and solace for LGBTQ+ Londoners and their friends and allies.

Recently, we've also introduced our new Zero Tolerance policy, which reiterates to our colleagues and customers 'Respect Matters'. As a business, we don't tolerate racist, discriminatory or abusive behaviour, and anyone who behaves disrespectfully will be asked to leave and not return.

Although we're proud of the steps we've taken to become a more inclusive place for all, we know there's still more to be done. We're passionate about making our internal communities feel safe, and that, as previously mentioned, our colleagues feel they can bring their whole selves to work. Our colleagues and customers have made M&S the place it is today, and without them, we know there would be no M&S.

We’re here for everybody who feels passionate about making M&S a place where all LGBTQ+ people feel they belong. We are all alike in that we are all different, and businesses perform better when they include people who represent all walks of life.