Cambridge United has underlined its support for diversity and equality by taking the Equality Pledge alongside fellow signatories at the recent match with Norwich City.
In doing so, the Club has become the first private company in Cambridgeshire to make the Pledge and joined leading organisations from across the county, including councils and emergency services.
The Equality Pledge commits signatory organisations to appreciate and value the benefits that different communities contribute to Cambridge and the surrounding region. Setting out how organisations in Cambridgeshire value diversity, the Equality Pledge states: "We believe in the dignity of all people and their right to respect and equality of opportunity. We value the strength that comes with difference and the positive contribution that diversity brings to our community. Our aspiration is for Cambridge and the wider region to be safe, welcoming and inclusive."
Cambridge United shares these aspirations and through the work of the Community Trust actively strive to achieve them, via initiatives such as the Mundipharma Senior's Lunch, Mundipharma Walking Football, weekly Disability Sport sessions and in primary schools across Cambridgeshire as part of the School Sport Programme.
Chairman Dave Doggett, who formally made the Pledge on behalf of Cambridge United, commented: “We are delighted to sign up to the Equality Pledge and join the notable list of signatories from across the city of Cambridge.
“The values that the pledge represents closely align with the ongoing work that Cambridge United Community Trust is delivering across Cambridgeshire, and our strong aspirations to positively impact all cross sections of our local community.”
Councillor Lewis Herbert, Leader of Cambridge City Council and also in attendance at the Norwich City Friendly, added: "Cambridge City Council worked with Cambridge University to develop the Equality Pledge in 2015, as we feel that Cambridgeshire should be open and welcoming to everyone who lives here, works here and visits here.
"We are pleased that Cambridge United has signed up to the Equality Pledge, as Cambridge United has long been at the heart of the Cambridgeshire community. The football club, including its Community Trust, has exemplary and ground-breaking equality initiatives that reach out widely into the local community. They are also inspirational in their efforts towards ending racism in sport."
The Equality Pledge was developed by Cambridge City Council and Cambridge University when Cambridge hosted the National Showcase for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans History Month 2016. As part of the preparations for the showcase event, local organisers wanted to develop an initiative that would provide a legacy for whole community.
The partner institutions who signed up to the Equality Pledge at the showcase event and that remain signatories of the Pledge include: Cambridge City Council, Cambridge University, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, East Cambridgeshire District Council, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Huntingdonshire District Council, Fenland District Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, and Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service.
To make your own Equality Pledge, as an organisation or an individual, visit: www.cambridge.gov.uk/equality-pledge. You can also show your support by Tweeting the special Twitter-friendly Equality Pledge: "Dignity. Respect. Equality. We value the strength that comes with difference & the positive contribution diversity brings". The hashtag is: #EqualityPledge.