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🏠 International Day of Persons with Disabilities 🏠 On December 3rd, we celebrated the International Day of Persons with Disabilities - an opportunity to highlight inclusivity and accessibility. Last week, we were honoured to celebrate by hosting Chronically Jenni at our head office. At the in-person and virtual event, Jenni shared powerful insights into the lived experience of disabled individuals, encouraging us to think about how we can enhance accessibility for both our customers and our colleagues. From myth-busting some of the misconceptions around disability, to highlighting some of disability hacks we already stock (shoutout to the electronic can opener!) and areas we can do better, Jenni delivered a thoughtful and engaging perspective on fostering inclusivity.
This video features Sammy, one of our Team Leaders. Sammy shares stories about her role and responsibilities, her favourite aspects of the job and how the role has helped her grow in confidence and take ownership of her responsibilities. Take a look below:
In this video our colleagues share which of the Dunelm shared values resonate most with them. From "Stronger Together" fostering a collaborative spirit, to "Keep Listening and Learning" ensuring every voice is heard, each value plays a crucial role in our success. Whether it's acting like owners, thinking long-term, or supporting each other through challenges, these values shape our culture and drive us forward. Watch the video to see how our values make Dunelm a great place to work!
Meet some of our Store Coaches and hear about how they feel empowered, something that might surprise you about Dunelm, and why Dunelm is their happy place.
🎓 Reach Programme Graduation 🎓 68 colleagues celebrated their Graduation Day for our Reach Programme. The overarching theme of the conversations on the day was confidence, as we took a moment to reflect on achievements and growth over the past 6 months - with a visit from Olympian Michelle Griffith-Robinson! Our Reach Programme has been carefully designed to empower our colleagues from underrepresented ethnic groups to reach their potential at Dunelm, by addressing specific challenges and barriers they may face in their career journeys. We used the graduation day to focus on planning what's next - including mindset, action plans and objectives. Congratulations to this years cohort of Reach graduates - we can't wait to see what you do next!
Last week we held a graduation ceremony for our cohort who have now finished their schemes across the business. The afternoon was filled with catching up, sharing stories from their time with us, testimonials from their managers (with some tears along the way), and some advice from previous grads and our exec. We're so proud of all that they have achieved 🌟
This morning we kicked off our Supported Shopping trial, launching Quieter Hours and Rest Spots in some of our stores. We want to create a more accessible, supported experience that allows all customers to feel seen whilst enjoying their shopping. Every Thursday, 9am-10am, selected stores will turn the music down, assist customers with trolleys and baskets, take shopping to cars for customers, and provide any additional support needed to make our in-store shopping experience better for our customers. Larger stores will also offer a Rest Spot – a dedicated and comfy space for customers to rest and consider purchases – available during all opening hours. We hope that these measures will allow for a better shopping experience for older people, neurodiverse shoppers and anyone else who requires extra support. This is an important first step to retail inclusivity and we hope to roll out to all of our stores in the near future.
To celebrate our 40 years of stores milestone, we are pleased to announce our mini-series of Heritage Colleague Stories! Our Heritage Colleague Stories shine a light on some of our amazing, long service colleagues, and how they have grown and evolved with us over the years. And who better to start with than Mr Dunelm Stores himself, Rory Mcallister, Stores Director.
On Saturday 31st August, Dunelm sponsored Leicester Pride for the second year in a row - over 50 colleagues came together to support and walk through the streets of Leicester 💚 We’re proud supporters of Leicester Pride and we’re already thinking about fun new ideas to make our walk in the parade even better next year. Thank you to everyone who came and made the day so special!
That's a wrap on Fresher's Week! 💚 We've loved having our new graduates and apprentices join us in our Syston Head Office this week. They have had an induction into the business, met our exec team, seen some of our operations including our Mock Shop and spent time getting to know each other, and we wish them well as they embark on their schemes with us. They have all been brilliant, and we're so excited for their next chapter with us!
