About Us.
- We are a super-network that connects and represents disabled staff networks.
- We are a collective platform to share experiences and good practice, and to examine challenges and opportunities.
- We are focussed on the tertiary education sector (i.e. universities, colleges, etc).
- We are open to any individual and organisation (public, private, social or voluntary) interested in the equality of disabled staff.
Background.
Hamied Haroon works at The University of Manchester as a research scientist in medical imaging, since 2004. Hamied was elected as the first Chair of the University’s Disabled Staff Network, when it was established by the University’s Equality & Diversity Office in 2007. He continued as Chair until August 2013, when he and Melanie Sharpe became Co-Chairs.
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In late 2013, Hamied developed a keen interest in trying to form a nationwide super-network/association of disabled staff networks, predominantly at higher education institutions (HEIs), as an umbrella organisation to share experiences and good practice and arrange activities and events, etc. He was thinking of something similar to the “network of networks” that ECU recently set up for BME staff networks at HEIs. Hamied talked to various people about this idea, such as Patrick Johnson and Jane Cordell, who were all very supportive and enthusiastic. So he took the first step forward in January 2014 …
Jane suggested to Hamied that he talk to her friend, Kate Nash OBE, who runs her own network of disabled employee networks and resources. Kate provided some great inspiration based on her successes and expertise. Meanwhile, Patrick advised Hamied to contact Chris Brill, who works on disability and age equality issues at ECU. Chris was very receptive to the idea and very encouraging, and offered ECU’s support to establishing such a nationwide super-network/association. Chris suggested that Hamied put his ideas on paper, which he did and sent to him. He then put Hamied in contact with Nicki Martin and the late Deb Viney, both founding Directors of NADP. Chris, Deb, Nicki and Hamied arranged to meet together on 8th May 2014 at SOAS University of London to discuss his proposals and how to move forward. Chris, Deb and Nicki were hugely supportive and suggested:
- Forming a Steering Group to get things going, formed by people from a mixture of different organisations (including UCU), starting with: Deb, Chris, Hamied, Nicki
- Making it a business or a wing of NADP
- Creating a dedicated JISCMAIL list
- Allowing individuals as well as institutions to become members initially
- Having clear Terms of Reference
- Catering for different HE and FE groupings (e.g. Russell Group, University Alliance, etc)
This was followed by the launch of NADSN …
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Launch.
The University of Manchester’s Disabled Staff Network organised a ground-breaking one-day national conference called “What Are We Hiding?“, for and about disabled staff. Melanie Sharpe was Chair of the Conference Steering Group. The conference was held on Friday 6th June 2014 on the University’s main campus. The conference focussed on the experiences of disabled people with hidden impairments and invisible disabilities, working at higher education institutions (HEIs) across the UK. This was a great success with over 100 people attending from all over the country, all of whom gave very positive feedback!
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At this conference, Hamied Haroon and Anna Charles-Jones jointly led a session on “Disabled Staff Networks”. They talked about their experiences of chairing the Disabled Staff Network at The University of Manchester and co-chairing the Disabled Staff Forum at Manchester Metropolitan University, respectively.
During this session Hamied presented his initial proposals for a national super-network/association of disabled staff networks.
Everyone in the session was very supportive about the proposals, and so the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DISABLED STAFF NETWORKS (NADSN) was launched!
Tragically, just over a week after our Conference took place, Deb Viney died. Hamied had the privilege of meeting Deb in person only once, and she was clearly a very passionate figure, and respected for all the right reasons. Deb’s passing meant a great loss for those who knew her and for those who benefited from her tireless efforts. Hamied dedicated the launch of this national association to Deb’s memory.
NADSN has a dedicated JISCMail discussion list. Subscribing to this list is the way to “join” NADSN. Membership will be open to individuals as well as representatives of networks/organisations to begin with.
A Founding Steering Group will assess and decide how NADSN will be structured and function.
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Organisations involved.
NADSN is supported by PurpleSpace, the Equality Challenge Unit and the National Association of Disability Practitioners.
Our members include affiliates of:
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UK Higher Education organisations.
- The University of Manchester – where it all began!
- Anglia Ruskin University
- Aston University
- Bath Spa University
- Birkbeck, University of London
- Brunel University London
- Buckinghamshire New University
- Cardiff University
- De Montfort University
- Edge Hill University
- Heriot-Watt University
- Imperial College London
- King’s College London
- Liverpool John Moores University
- London South Bank University
- Loughborough University
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- Newcastle University
- Nottingham Trent University
- Oxford University Student Union
- Queen Mary University of London
- Royal Holloway, University of London
- St George’s, University of London
- The Francis Crick Institute
- The Institute of Cancer Research
- The Open University
- The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London
- The University of Edinburgh
- The University of Sheffield
- The University of Warwick
- Ulster University
- University College London
- University of Aberdeen
- University of Bath
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bradford
- University of Bristol
- University of Cambridge
- University of Chester
- University of Dundee
- University of Glasgow
- University of Hertfordshire
- University of Hull
- University of Kent
- University of Leeds
- University of Leicester
- University of Lincoln
- University of Liverpool
- University of Nottingham
- University of Oxford
- University of Reading
- University of Roehampton
- University of Southampton
- University of St Andrews
- University of Sussex
- University of the Arts London
- University of the West of England, Bristol
- University of the West of Scotland
- University of Wolverhampton
- University of York
- York St John University
HE organisations outside the UK.
Further Education affiliates.
Education related organisations.
Police forces.
Disabled people's organisations.
Healthcare organisations.
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
- East Cheshire NHS Trust
- Health & Social Care Services in Northern Ireland
- Health Education England, NHS
- Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust
- Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Companies.
Other Public Sector organisations.
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Our Patron.
Professor Anna Lawson is Director of the Centre for Disability Studies (@CDSLeeds) at the University of Leeds, and has honoured NADSN by becoming our first patron.
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NADSN is thrilled to announce that the wonderful Professor Anna Lawson has accepted the Steering Committee’s recent invitation to take on a brand new role as the first Patron of NADSN!
Our Terms of Reference stipulate that our Patron will be well-known and respected in the disability field. Anna’s tireless campaigning on disability rights, the respect she has earned as an eminent academic and lawyer on the international stage, being the director of a world-class university centre on disability studies, and being an influential leader with lived experience, are just some of the qualities that make Anna the ideal candidate as our Patron. You can find out more about Anna on her profile page here.
We envisage that the role of the Patron would be to promote the aims of NADSN, provide credibility to our cause, raise awareness of the Association with people where it will count, offer guidance to the Chair and the Steering Committee, and be prepared to support occasional ‘high profile’ events.
We are deeply honoured that Anna has taken on this role and we very much look forward to working with her.
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Steering Committee.
NADSN’s Founding Steering Group was formed in October 2014, and in 2016 appointed the following Steering Committee members.
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Steering Committee.
- Chair
- Hamied Haroon (Univ Manchester)
- Vice Chairs
- Jacquie Nicholson (Scottish Universties)
- Secretary
- Kelly Pickard-Smith (Christie NHS Foundation Trust)
- Kelly Pickard-Smith (Christie NHS Foundation Trust)
- Fundraiser / Treasurer
- Jacquie Nicholson (Scottish Universities) – temporarily
- Engagement and Communications Lead
- Peter Collins (Univ Birmingham)
- Intersectionality Lead
- Vacant
- Intersectionality Partners:
- Sammy Li (Chair, LGBT+ Network of Networks in HE)
- Kevin Coutinho (Vice Chair, HE Race Action Group)
- Regional Leads and Co-Leads
- Scotland: Jacquie Nicholson (Scottish Universities)
- Wales: vacant
- Northern Ireland: Angela Getty (Ulster Univ)
- North West England: Lykara Ryder & Mona Patel (Manchester Met Univ)
- North East England: vacant
- Yorkshire & Humberside: Richard Knight (York St John Univ)
- West & East Midlands: vacant
- East of England: vacant
- South West England: vacant
- South East England (excluding London): Yota Dimitriadi (Univ Reading)
- London: Ashok Jashapara (Royal Holloway, Univ London)
- Scotland: Jacquie Nicholson (Scottish Universities)
We are inviting expressions of interest in the vacant roles. Anyone interested should please contact the Secretary (please see above).
Steering Committee members will serve for a term of two years. The current term will start on 1st March 2021 and end on the same date in 2023. We agreed that members of the Steering Committee could co-opt in any other members of NADSN for specific purposes. Each Regional Lead will form Regional Hubs for local NADSN members – please contact your nearest Regional Lead to join up to your Regional Hub (please see above).
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Our Logo.
The logo for NADSN was created in October 2014 by Rachel Shillcock, a disabled professional freelance web and user interface designer, at no charge (thanks Rachel!). Rachel based her design on Scott Elias’ original idea of stars.
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Rachel described her design for the NADSN logo as follows:
My idea for the logo is this: simple, clear typography with a mark that can be used as a brand symbol. The idea behind the mark is this: The main star at the front represents each person, and every single person is unique – as is every star. In that same way, every person’s disability is going to be unique in the way it affects them. Then the extra (rotated) star behind the first is to show the network of other people, so that it’s showing not just the one star/person alone. Then the background (that matches the edges of the star in the forefront) is like the container for it all, which is NADSN or the group of people behind it.
I did try brighter combinations but the contrast ends up becoming too harsh – I also tried some different colours such as purples and reds, but then the contrast was too low. At the moment, for the style of the icon, this is about as far as we can push it with the colours. They work well in black and white and when I tested them in the various colour-blindness simulators I have at hand, they worked well with those as well. (I went through about 16 colour combinations to get to that one! So I did check lots of them.)
We will remain grateful to Rachel for this awesome gift!
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Terms of Reference.
In March and April 2015, NADSN’s Founding Steering Group worked on and agreed our Terms of Reference. These were amended in April 2016.
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Our Mission - Who We Are.
A super-network that connects and represents disabled staff networks
- A collective platform to share experiences and good practice, and to examine challenges and opportunities
- Focussed on the tertiary education sector (i.e. universities, colleges, etc)
- Open to any individual and organisation (public, private, social or voluntary) interested in the equality of disabled staff
Our Aims and Objectives.
- Promote disability equality and campaign for disabled staff networks to be supported in the workplace
- Promote the interests of disabled staff on a national level
- Challenge stereotypes by endorsing the Social Model of Disability, promoting a positive image of disabled people and eliminating the deficit/medical model
- Raise awareness of non-visible impairments ensuring inclusion of people whose conditions/differences are hidden such as mental health conditions, learning differences, HIV, etc.
- Organise and deliver accessible events that can bring disabled staff and disability equality allies together
- Support relevant research projects, policies and guidance for disabled staff, managers, higher education institutions (HEIs), further education institutions (FEIs) and Government agencies
- Provide opportunities for the personal and professional development of disabled staff within a HEI/FEI setting
- Identify high-profile disabled staff at HEIs and FEIs as role models
- Link with disabled students, particularly at postgraduate and doctoral levels
- Create and maintain an internet site with information, resources, documents, blogs and useful links for disabled staff in accessible formats
- Attract sponsors and hosts for conferences and special-interest meetings open to all disabled staff and relevant managers to attend
Our Membership and Allies.
- Membership is open to Disabled Staff Networks/Groups/Fora from HEIs and FEIs across the country, along with other interested organisations
- Supported by the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) and the National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP) and PurpleSpace
- Work with organisations, agencies and individuals in the public, private, voluntary and social sectors relevant to disabled staff
- Communicate with the membership via JISCMail distribution lists
Our Structure and Mode of Operation.
- NADSN will have a Patron, an elected Chair, elected Vice Chairs (FE and HE), and a core leadership team elected from the membership to be known as the Steering Committee
- The Patron will be well-known and respected in the disability field helping NADSN publically and particularly through the media
- The Chair will lead the Steering Committee, represent NADSN externally and will be a person with lived experience
- Vice Chairs will have responsibility for taking forward pieces of work agreed from the overarching themes of work in NADSN
- Core Leadership Team roles will include Secretary, Treasurer, Regional Leads, Events Lead, Communications Lead, and other roles to be agreed by the Steering Committee
- Any member of NADSN will be eligible to be nominated to any role for a term of two years
- There will be a limit on the number of terms to two that someone can be re-elected to the same role
- NADSN members can be co-opted into working groups based on their expertise and experience
- NADSN will have an Advisory Group to agree and oversee our strategy and goals and to request and review quarterly progress reports from the Steering Committee. The Advisory Group will be made up of members of the Founding Steering Group
- Members actively serving in leadership roles will not be involved in the Advisory Group
- The Chair of the Advisory Group will be elected from amongst its own members, for a term of two years, with two possible re-elections. New members can be co-opted in
- NASDN will create and support Local Hubs. Local Hubs of membership activity, in specific geographical areas, will make it easier for people to physically meet up and to work together on issues specific to their geographical location
- NASDN will have Working Groups (WGs) that will have various functions. For instance, WGs can support the Steering Committee (SC) and the Advisory Group (AG). WGs can also have responsibility for a separate project under one of the themes of NADSN, but not covered by either the SC or the AG
Administration.
- The Steering Committee will meet a minimum of two times per year one meeting in the north and the other south of the UK
- A quorum of the Steering Committee will be formed with the attendance of five members at meetings
- Meeting papers will be circulated to the Steering Committee five days before meetings by the Secretary
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Drafted and finalised by Jacquie Nicholson (University of Edinburgh) and Mona Patel (Manchester Metropolitan University) on 29th April 2015. Amended in April 2016.