"Let’s Be on the Right Side of History”: The SRAG Summer Summit 2025
July 11, 2025Posted by:
Reflections on the SRAG Summer Summit 2025
"Inclusive hiring shouldn't be the exception. Let's be on the right side of history." Keynote Speaker Dean Reilly, JSL
The SRAG Summer Summit 2025 brought together a full-capacity audience of employers, policymakers, and social value leaders to confront a shared challenge:
How do we bridge the employment readiness gap - not just at the point of hire, but in how we retain, support, and progress people from overlooked talent pools?
Readiness Is Shared, Not Assumed
The summit opened with a joint welcome from Rt Hon Anne Milton, SRAG Chair, and Robin Webber-Jones, Principal at Tresham College (Bedford College Group), who reminded us why place-based action matters.
The morning panel, Future-Ready Bedford, covered upcoming developments across the region, from rail infrastructure to inward investment and the arrival of Universal Studios' first European theme park - and asked a vital question:
Who are these opportunities for? And who risks being left behind if we don’t act now?
Speakers from Bedford Borough Council, East West Rail and the private sector made it clear: readiness isn’t a deficit in the individual - it’s a shared responsibility between employers, educators and community partners.
"There was a local focus hearing from the Borough about Universal, and from East West Rail on the large infrastructure projects set to connect the region - they leave with understanding of the groups that SRAG can help them support." Lauren Mistry, Youth Employment UK, SRAG partner and Bedford resident.
Retention Is Built, Not Hoped For
The Unipart and PeoplePlus session on mental health gently grabbed attention, compassionately showing that creating safety around both ongoing wellbeing needs and mental health crises isn’t out of reach. It’s a responsibility employers can meet. The key is tackling wellbeing as infrastructure, not initiative.
Unipart has trained 219 Mental Health First Aiders in 18 months, creating a visible, accessible peer-support network across their sites. Alongside this, they've introduced STRAW (Sustaining Resilience at Work) practitioners to provide deeper, structured support.
As Lara Watson shared, these actions have directly helped colleagues in crisis - including individuals considering suicide - by ensuring that someone was trained, trusted, and empowered to act.
“It gives people a voice on the shop floor - and the confidence to check in on each other.” Lara Watson, Unipart
For businesses working with high-pressure environments, shift work, or employees returning from long-term absence, it was a timely reminder: retention and wellbeing aren’t separate challenges. They’re the same one.
Progress Means Structure, Not Slogans
Midway through the day, members took part in Charter Mark workshops, reflecting on what’s working - and what comes next - across the four pillars of SRAG:
Recruit, Retain, Develop, and Connect with the Community.
It was also a moment for recognition. The latest Charter Mark awardees demonstrated what it means to move from commitment to capability:
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Gold: Genius Within CIC, Sureserve Group, Severn Trent Water
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Bronze: SCL Education
Silver: Gateway Qualifications
Each SRAG Charter Award is underpinned by evidence from a rigorous assessment process requiring not just strategy, but delivery. From line manager readiness to community outreach, these organisations are nurturing recruitment ecosystems that drive social impact, and are built to last.
Practicality Over Promises: The Carousel in Action
The afternoon saw a carousel of interactive sessions, led by SRAG partners sharing practical ways to deepen social value and staff development.
Highlights included:
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Game Academy – on how gaming behaviours signal overlooked potential
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Care Leavers Covenant – building progression routes for young people with care experience
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be/impact – helping employers embed high-impact volunteering strategies
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The Social Recruitment Service – linking recruitment with funded training and onboarding support
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Bedford College & ANTZ – introducing the Level II Social Value Qualification to support structured learning inside organisations.
Transform and Achieve - with founder and director Lorenzo Hall, on coaching to develop potential - not polish.
These sessions reinforced a key SRAG message - you don’t need to start from scratch - you need to connect the dots through collaboration and fresh partnerships.
Closing the Loop: From Words to Follow-Through
In the final keynote, Dean Reilly, now Business Development Manager at JSL, delivered a clear, unscripted reminder of what this is all really about. His story - of exclusion, recovery, and being seen for the first time - cut through every framework in the room.
“It’s not about second chances. It’s about being seen in the first place.” - Dean Reilly
The call to action was simple: make this work visible, measurable and enduring. Not just at senior level, but on the ground - where culture is lived and felt.
The summit closed with Charter Mark presentations, a spotlight on upcoming events, and a reminder that the Social Recruitment Covenant remains open for organisations ready to commit publicly to inclusive employment - and all it requires beyond the job offer.
Recruitment isn’t where inclusion ends. It’s where the responsibility begins.
For employers serious about social value, retention, and long-term workforce strength, the question is no longer why.
It’s how, with whom, and what’s next.
And as Dean Reilly put it best: Let’s be on the right side of history.
July 11, 2025Posted by:
