Across our membership, we’ve seen successful storytelling campaigns:

• support employees with disabilities and long-term health conditions to feel more confident in asking for workplace adjustments and accommodations.
• break down feelings of isolation, providing colleagues in similar situations with tips and advice, empowering them to shape and share their own stories.
• help organisations secure more accurate data about the number of people who choose to share information about their disability/ill-health.
• encourage colleagues to bring their authentic selves to work.
• educate senior leaders, leading to more informed decision-making in terms of accessibility tools, workplace adjustments processes, recruitment and other policies impacting those with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
• normalise the subject of ‘disability’.
• foster a culture of understanding, trust and support.

Below we have included helpful resources and details of our peer engagement opportunities to support you in embarking on – or taking to the next level - your approach to storytelling and in building the confidence and capacity of your colleagues to participate in an authentic and impactful storytelling campaign.

September learning & development opportunities

Connect with your peers at one of this month’s peer group learning sessions – these small, interactive one-hour sessions for ERG/Network leaders and those working towards disability inclusion are a great way to share good practice, swap ideas, share challenges and opportunities and build your leadership capabilities.

We have four sessions to choose from:

• Wednesday, 7th September at 08:00 – 09:00 (BST)
• Tuesday, 13th September at 16:00 – 17:00 (BST)

Creating cultural change and empowering colleagues to build their inner confidence are among the core purposes of a high-performing ERG/Network and our Working Group meetings this month provide a unique platform for ERG/Network leaders to discuss and feed directly into our work in these areas. 

PurpleSpace’s Purple Confidence Think Tank, our strategic Working Group supporting our mission to empower employees with disabilities to build their inner confidence, will be meeting on Tuesday, 27th September.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Working Groups, please do get in touch via hello@purplespace.org. 

Further reading & helpful resources

Our extensive Resource Library has a number of resources to support you in embedding this month’s theme, including:

• Purple Stories: A guide to why, when and how to share your story of disability or ill-health at work.
• The Power of Storytelling: Publication on how to create authentic, impactful storytelling campaigns. 
• When Movements Take Off: Webinar featuring David Caldwell, PurpleSpace Ambassador and Alia Cooper, HSBC UK, as they discuss storytelling campaigns and provide tips for ERG/Network leaders on how to secure engagement, appetite and budget.
• Storytelling in 8 Easy Steps: Short template guide on running a storytelling campaign. 
• The Untold Story of Disability: Podcast with Simon Minty, Disability & Diversity Consultant, and Kate Nash, PurpleSpace CEO, on how to deliver a story that drives cultural change. 
• Be Yourself: A ‘how-to’ paper written by Shell offering a 10-step approach to creating a video sharing platform to help disabled employees be themselves at work.
• Spotlight On … Unilever: Video interview with  Manisha Mehta and Nakul Gaur who share the principles that made Unilever’s ‘I AM ME’ storytelling campaign so powerful.