Independent East, an informal alliance of five community-focused housing associations in the East of England – Broadland Housing, Freebridge Community Housing, Havebury Housing Partnership, Saffron Housing Trust and Orwell Housing Association, has just launched the #Flourish campaign designed to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in their workplaces and communities so that everyone can be themselves, where they can grow and flourish.

The campaign concept is based around the idea that just as every plant needs a different environment, treatment, and conditions to thrive, so do we as individuals.

Over the coming months, the five housing associations will work collaboratively to raise awareness about the importance of inclusion through surveys, training and events, as well as each organisation committing to scrutinise their internal processes to see how they could be improved.

James Francis, CEO at Saffron, said: “The way I think about inclusion is enabling people with diverse perspectives to be both heard and involved as we go about our day-to-day work in meeting housing the need across the East of England. That is what #Flourish is all about, and I’m really excited that we are working together to create this campaign which promotes inclusion across our organisations.”

Wendy Evans-Hendrick, chief executive at Orwell Housing Association, said, "We spend so much of our adult lives at work; it seems contradictory that many people are worried about being themselves when they are there. While it's important to remain professional, employees that feel comfortable being themselves are likely to be happier and more productive. This, in turn, influences the service that we can provide to our customers and the experience they will have when they interact with us.

By working in partnership with our Independent East partners, we hope this campaign will have a positive effect on all our customers across the East of England."