Diversity Role Models (DRM) is a UK LGBT+ education charity with a vision of a world where everybody embraces diversity and can thrive.
DRM embeds inclusion and builds empathy through educational workshops in schools featuring personal, lived-experience stories from LGBT+ and ally role models. The workshops helped students understand the impact of their language and actions, equipping them with the skills to challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic comments and bullying happening within the student body, driving a school culture shift to celebrating and embracing differences.
To ensure sustained change, student workshops were supplemented by training staff, governors and parents/carers.
Read our Impact Report from the findings of our first year on this project.
Diversity Role Models was selected by the Department for Education to deliver a programme which empowers schools to take a stand against all forms of bullying.
For three years, DRM worked with schools in England to supply training interventions and resources which ensured staff have the knowledge and skills to tackle and prevent bullying to create inclusive school cultures.
This was anchored in training about diversity and the protected characteristics and was underpinned by reviewing and updating internal policies and processes and implementing them so all school stakeholders can understand them and are able to act on bullying.
Classroom multimedia resources were also available to teaching staff for use with students, featuring personal lived experience stories to embed continued values of empathy and inclusion.
Staff training: Included understanding prejudice-based bullying, implementing strategies to tackle, log and monitor incidents, using and disseminating policy effectively and how to embed a celebration of difference in RSHE and the wider curriculum.
Primary workshops (1xhour optional add-on): DRM’s primary workshops discussed different families and respectful relationships to educate about different forms of bullying and stereotyping, based on protected characteristics as well as using different family types to discuss sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion/belief, SEND, sex, pregnancy/maternity, age, marriage/divorce.
Multimedia resources: Up to 65 additional storytelling video resources have been added to our ‘Role Model Stories’ platform for teachers to use in their classrooms. The unique and powerful messages our Role Models share in these exclusive video resources allow teachers anywhere to educate about different identities, the impact of bullying and how to embrace difference.
The program aimed to reach up to 20,000 staff and 4,500 students, with delivery commencing from January 2022 to April 2024 across England only.
Please note: This project has now ended. We are still able to offer this training via our education services. To register your interest in our Embracing Difference staff training and workshops please click here
