Wrekin aims to #InspireInclusion on International Women's Day

This International Women’s Day, we are celebrating the work and achievements of women here at The Wrekin Housing Group.

The theme of International Women’s Day 2024 is ‘Inspire Inclusion’, with the aim of encouraging people to speak out against discrimination, challenge stereotypes, beat bias and seek out inclusion.

Shan Sherborne is one of the women helping challenge stereotypes. Shan is Wrekin’s IT Project Manager for Care & Support and has spent the last eight years working in the housing provider’s IT department.

Shan said: “I am lucky to be part of a team that really champions women. I started my career working in one of Wrekin’s retirement living schemes. I have always had an interest in technology and the organisation supported me in wanting to go down that route. I was given the opportunity to shadow members of the ICT team and they supported me to undertake a Software Engineering degree whilst I carried out my role as an ICT trainer and developer.

“I’ve worked in IT since 2016 and now we’re seeing more women in the sector as a whole. Even during my time at university, each year I saw more and more women enrolling which is really encouraging.

“I’m always trying to encourage other females to consider a career in IT. Even though my two girls have no interest in IT, I always tell them they are capable of doing anything – gender isn’t a factor. “

Shan achieved a 1:1 after completing her BA Hons in Software Engineering. Since March 2023, Shan has been seconded to roll a new IT system for Wrekin’s ShireLiving brand – which offers dedicated housing and care services for the over 55s

“There is a drive to ensure the entire care side of the business goes paperless by 2025. Moving to a digital way of working gives us access to data we have never had before, allowing us to improve the service. Plus, it’s better for the environment! We’re constantly developing the system, adding new features and listening to the feedback from the staff so we can continue to evolve it.”

Sophie Jones, Group Head of People Services at The Wrekin Housing Group said:

“I am proud to work for this organisation, if we look at our senior management team, we've got a really healthy split of males and females which suggests we are doing lots to support female progression.

“However, we can always do more. In some areas of the business, females are still heavily under-represented. We’re lucky to have strong female role models like who are leading the way when it comes to inspiring the next generation of young women to look at roles in what have been traditionally male-dominated industries. We know we are not alone in facing these challenges.

“Over the next 12 months we will be working with business leaders to look at shaping targeted development programmes to support females in the workplace and to continue the good work we've been doing in supporting females to enter male dominated careers. When it comes to recruiting, we will identify opportunities for positive action to encourage underrepresented groups and more females into senior and technical specialist roles.”

Wrekin champions a diverse workforce so if you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives and want to join our team of 1250 colleagues take a look at our current vacancies.

7th March 2024