External Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board

Cheshire Constabulary is committed to providing an inclusive and diverse workplace where everyone has equal opportunities to thrive. We aim to ensure that our workforce is representative of the community, stressing the importance of individuality. As a force, we have a duty to enforce the Equality Act (2010), both internally and externally. The Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) team aims to ensure that these values are enforced in line with protected characteristics, and the External DEI board (EDEI) is responsible for the monitoring of DEI performance.

The EDEI Board are tasked with the reviewing of DEI data in order to analyse patterns and trends, and in turn, to find areas for improvement - but also evaluating the adequacy of the action taken by the Constabulary in regard to these proposed areas of improvement.

The reviews and feedback that the EDEI provide enables the Constabulary to develop and improve policies and strategies in relation to the DEI, and so a causal sequence develops in which the force as a whole benefits.

Board Members

Angie Power - Chair

Angie Power is a Diversity Safeguarding Consultant trainer and Registered Nurse with expertise in Honour Based Abuse (HBA), Forced Marriage (FM), Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Safeguarding. Angie has been a registered nurse since 1984 and worked in the NHS for 33 years and Primary care as a nurse consultant for 2 years.

Qualifications
Angie completed a Key Skills Management Diploma in 2009, graduated with a Law Degree in 2010, and her master’s degree in 2016 in Diversity Management. Her dissertation was on improving service provision for BME victims of DV, HBA, DA, FM and FGM by identifying gaps in police knowledge and improving confidence in policing.

Police work
Angie has acted as a critical friend to the police for over 18 years and works with communities at grass roots level, helping the police to better understand diverse communities.

Partnership working
Angie works throughout the UK and internationally with all key statutory agencies and plays a key role in educating professionals about safeguarding and managing the risks associated with HBA, FM, and FGM.

Key achievements
In 2016, Angie participated in the European International Gender Equality (EIGE) expert’s consultation on Gender Based Violence where she was able to provide her expertise in HBV, FM and FGM to aid EIGE in looking at the Gender Equality Index Measurement Framework of Violence Against Women in the EU. Angie has received awards in Global Diversity Leadership for HBL, FM and FGM in Mumbai in 2017, and she was also commended as one of the Top 100 Global Diversity and Inclusion Leaders in 2018. She has been recognised for her work regarding FGM and her involvement in Operation Limelight from 2018-2023 and has been acknowledged by the Caribbean African Health Network (CAHN) for collaborative partnership working in FGM and as FGM Unsung Hero. As winner of WAZOBIA’s Outstanding Achievement for FGM in 2019, Angie has been able to bring pride to African communities both at home and in diaspora.

Neil Perris

Neil Perris is the Inclusion, Diversity and Health Inequalities lead for Wirral Community Health & Care NHS Foundation Trust, leading on the delivery of the organisations 5 year Inclusion & Health Inequality Strategy.

He has a health promotion/improvement and public health background following an Applied Biochemistry degree. He has wide experience of Inclusion diversity and involvement work and public health work in both the voluntary and public sector and more recently operational service lead experience, consolidated by an MBA (with distinction) from The University of Chester in 2015. Neil lives in Middlewich with his husband David.

Kay Wesley

Kay is a Town Councillor in Congleton, and the first one for the Women’s Equality Party in the UK. She is the owner and Chief Executive of an international digital company working in the healthcare sector, Kanga Health Ltd.

Kay had worked extensively in gender equality, especially challenging violence against women and girls, ensuring that a domestic abuse clinic and peer support group were established in Congleton. Kay led the effort to get Congleton Town Council White Ribbon Accredited and the team engages with the local high schools and other organisations to challenge the male cultures that lead to violence. She also sits on the Cheshire East Domestic and Sexual Abuse Partnership Board.

Kay is a Trustee of Congleton Pride and led the work to get that organisation to be a Hate Crime Reporting Centre. Kay is also on the board of Congleton Museum and Elizabeth’s Group (which promotes the life and work of Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy).

Kay leads the Antisocial Behaviour Working Group of Congleton Town Council and is leading the work on the Community Safety Charter for Congleton. Kay is a member of Congleton Green and works on climate change and biodiversity, especially community engagement around these issues.

Julie Robbins

Julie is a wife, and a mum of two teenage children, and lives in the village of Delamere, Cheshire.

Julie has 25 years’ experience in various Social Policy, Community Development and Sporting Regeneration management roles across England working with multi-agency partnerships including general government.

Julie is currently the Head of Inclusion and Diversity for the Youth Sport Trust. In her role she oversees the charities’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategic plan and leads a team that works with schools and a wide range of organisations in the UK and internationally, to directly address inequalities and achieve positive outcomes for the marginalised groups of young people in and beyond educational settings.

Julie is pleased to be a member of Cheshire Constabulary Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board as she is passionate about ensuring local people, especially those who are often seldom heard, can shape public services and influence decisions that affect their lives.

Jill Gates

Although I had taken early retirement due to health issues, I felt I could still contribute to my local community. I wanted to volunteer in a role where I could support those working in my local area.

My previous roles have included being a Senior Officer in a local authority which has involved managing, creating, updating policies and keeping abreast of updates to legislation and appropriate recommendations. I had managed office-based Ofsted processes and part of the management team to ensure smooth running of inspections, which included all stakeholders of the organisation. The Ofsted inspectors stated about our team very effectively demonstrates its strong commitment to equality and diversity by successfully engaging individuals on its programmes.

As an older person with life experience, I feel I understand some of the relevant characteristics within Diversity, Equality and Inclusion and do keep abreast of changes plus am still able to learn. It is important that everyone should have an equal voice and given full consideration with compassion and understanding hence my selecting this area to volunteer in. I now also enjoy motor homing with my husband and learning to look after our first puppy – a Cockapoo called Ruby.