Belfast based communications company Excalibur Press have cemented their commitment to inclusion, accessibility and neuroinclusion by completing a company wide JAM (Just A Minute) Card certification.
The training, as part of the Belfast Business Promise programme, reinforces the ongoing work by the company to embrace and promote inclusion in their daily operations.
For Excalibur Press founder and Chief Vision Officer, Tina Calder it was a personal mission.
“Accessibility and neuroinclusion is massively important here at Excalibur Press,” she said.
“Inclusivity isn’t a tick box exercise that you do and forget, it must be ingrained in the very fabric of your culture and team.
“As someone with ADHD and chronic pain conditions and who has staff, family, clients and friends with disability and neurodiversity I think it’s important for us, as a business, to show people that we are an empathetic and caring team.”
The Excalibur Press team’s ongoing commitment and passion for inclusivity is what drove them to seek out the training.
“Doing business should never be at the expense of being a good human, I don’t care what anyone says and, ultimately, no doubt I’ll pay the price for being so staunchly rigid on this but our values of integrity, honesty, respect, teamwork, creativity, innovation, education and inclusivity aren’t just fancy words in our handbook; they are the very fabric of who we are, what we stand for and why we do what we do every day.
“Like any business we understand there are limitations to what we can do within our available finance, resources and capacity, however, the Belfast Business Promise programme at Belfast City Council has made this achievement possible for our team and we’re immensely proud to now be JAM Card certificate holders.
“All businesses should strive for inclusivity where they can. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Continual improvement is important and being mindful of the needs of those around you.
“Neurodivergent and disabled people should not be expected to always ‘fit’ into an able-bodied, neurotypical world. As citizens, entrepreneurs, colleagues, family and friends we have a responsibility to reach out and be better.”
Tina said she’s proud her team is as committed to the company’s values and ethos of the training as she is.
“They weren’t just willing to embrace the JAM Card and its philosophy, they were motivated by our values and mission and, because of that, I’m proud to call them my team.
“Embracing accessibility and neuroinclusion isn’t just about ticking the boxes here, for us it’s the right thing to do and I personally believe it should be non-negotiable in business.”
Set up in 2017, Excalibur Press has grown from a solopreneur led journalism and media services business to a full multidisciplinary media, marketing and consulting firm with seven departments and a six-figure turnover.
Recently the business conducted a full restructure promoting Alexandra Feher to the newly created managing director role. The company now offers clients a holistic service offering covering everything from generalised marketing such as social media, PR, website development, video production, copywriting, crisis comms, research, event management and digital transformation to training, mentoring and consulting services such as entrepreneurial programme delivery and design, community outreach, business mentoring and media production and publishing.
Speaking of the JAM Card participation Alexandra said: “I am delighted to have overseen this initiative as one of my first projects as managing director at Excalibur Press. I believe it shows our clients, colleagues and community exactly who we are and what we’re about.
“In a time-starved economic landscape it’s easy to deprioritise things like training, continual development, accessibility and working on improving your services.
“Very often we get caught in the hamster wheel of delivery and when working at capacity it can be hard to set aside time for things like the Belfast Business Promise and JAM Card.
“However, as a business that is no stranger to challenges, my team embraced this with positivity and we’re all proud to be able to display the JAM Card sign at our events and training.
“Not only did the team learn from the process but the getting our photos with our certificates and taking time out to discuss the process was a welcome break and opportunity to discuss issues such as accessibility, disability, neurodiversity and more.”
The Belfast Business Promise contains eight pledges, driven by a commitment to making a better Belfast and shaping a better city for everyone.
For more information about Excalibur Press go to excaliburpress.co.uk