DID YOU KNOW? Birmingham City Council has launched an online book of memories to record the city’s response to COVID-19. It contains memories from people across the city.
A new Alliance for the business community NETWORK AIMS TO CHANGE PERCEPTIONS
DISHOOM DATE Dishoom Birmingham at One Chamberlain Square has announced opening dates. The Bombay-inspired café (which was originally due to open on April 1st) will welcome guests for the restaurant’s rescheduled soft launch from Saturday, July 18th, to Wednesday, August 5th, before opening officially on Thursday, August 16th. Throughout the soft launch period (a critical stage of preparation and training for the team) guests will be offered 50% off food. Reservations will be taken for groups of up to six at any time of day, including evenings. Bookings can be made for the soft launch now via www.dishoom.com/ birmingham There will also be space kept for walk-ins at all times of the day. Owing to the unpredictability of British weather, bookings will not be taken for Dishoom Birmingham’s large outdoor terrace, but will be offered on arrival on a first-come, firstserved basis.
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JULY 2020
Every year during the month of June, the LGBTQI community comes together globally to celebrate Pride month and recognise those who are working to make the world a safer place for the community. This year, Alliance Network and Colmore BID were set to have a float in Birmingham Pride’s parade. But, like all other largescale events set to take place over recent months, Birmingham Pride was cancelled due to Coronavirus. Some may say that the Pride Festival as a big street party, but while it is a celebration, it is much more and it means different things to different people. It is an opportunity to raise awareness of current issues facing the community, while bringing people of all backgrounds together. For us at Alliance Network, we too wanted to bring people together, in particular those in professional industries where there is still a lot of work to be done around inclusivity in the workplace. Operating on a purely Not-For-Profit basis, we organise a range of information sharing events, not only for the LGBTQI community, but also employers who wish to educate themselves
of the issues their staff may face. As a network, we want to collaborate with others to promote respect in the workplace, taking action where appropriate. According to a report from Stonewall, more than a third of LGBTQI staff have hidden that they are LGBTQI for fear of discrimination. One in ten black, Asian and ethnic minority LGBTQI employees have been physically attacked by customers or colleagues. We want to change this, starting with our own city. Pride festivals, particularly the parades, have faced some accusations of becoming cash generating exercises. In reality, businesses lend their voice to the cause by participating, standing with the LGBTQI community and saying “No, we will not stand for this discrimination”. We need more businesses and allies to stand up for the community and while Pride Birmingham may not have happened this year, there is still plenty that can be done by all of us during the remainder of the year. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact michelle. yeoman@db.com MICHELLE YEOMAN THE ALLIANCE NETWORK
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