It’s fitting that Weston College has the honour of sponsoring the Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing category at this year’s Bristol Law Society Awards.

As well as supporting a vital organisation in the local legal sector, this also gives us the opportunity highlight a range of subjects that resonate closely with the College’s values and priorities.

In recent years we’ve worked extremely hard to take our law-related provision to the next level and, in doing so, support local employers that operate in the legal industry.

We created the Law and Professional Services Academy following a multi-million-pound redevelopment to of the Winter Gardens Pavilion on Weston seafront.

It features a library, new computer equipment, technology-enhanced ‘pods’ for group study, a café, classrooms and social spaces, and we’ve also been able to maintain the traditional elements of design, which make the Winter Gardens so iconic.

This bright and spacious facility offers training across law and other professional services, and provides students with a large and diverse range of training.

We’ve worked closely with hundreds of employers across the region to create specialised and professional courses that offer clear progression routes.

As well as giving students clearly defined routes into the industry, the academy enables business to access cost-effective training courses and apprenticeships that will help them develop their workforce.

Employers have the opportunity to train their staff from Level 1 to university-level and can also work with us to create bespoke courses that meet their specific business needs.

Our courses range from the Law A Level and Level 3 Paralegal Apprenticeship through to the CILEx Law and Practice Diploma at Level 3 and Level 6.

The sponsorship of this award also enables us to highlight another area in which we’re leading the way – that of wellbeing and mental health.

We recently devised an organisation-wide initiative to enhance the mental health, wellbeing and welfare of our learners, staff and the sider community, and ensure they have the emotional resilience to meet the increasing demands of 21st century life.

The programme consists of a framework of ‘body and mind’ initiatives, including free mindfulness, meditation, dance and yoga sessions.

It also involves forging strong partnerships with the local authority, charities and clubs; hosting a series of sports, healthy eating and wellbeing sessions; and tackling issues such as low self-esteem, low confidence and smoking cessation.

This pioneering initiative received national recognition this year, by winning an Association of Colleges Beacon Award, with judges highlighting our commitment to creating an ethos that puts mental health, wellbeing and welfare at the forefront of its investment.

Aside from this programme, we’re proud to hold both the ‘Gold’ and ‘Champion’ Investors in People accreditation, which also recognise the College’s proactive approach to the mental health, wellbeing and welfare services of its staff. The College also offers staff free Mental Health First Aid training and provide a counselling service.

This issue of health and wellbeing was also central to the development of our Health and Active Skills Centre, which opened in September. As well as tackling the current skills shortage in the sector, this impressive facility also addresses longer-term issues that affect our health service and the health of the local population.

Like the finalists in this category of the Law Society’s Awards, we recognise that the most successful and robust organisations are diverse and inclusive. It’s in the fabric of the College that everyone has the right to be treated fairly and without discrimination, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, circumstances or background.

The finalists in this category – Barcan+Kirby, DAC Beachcroft and RPC – have all embraced these values wholeheartedly and any one of them will be a worthy winner on the night of October 24th.

I’m very much looking forward to the event and wish all three companies the very best of luck. To find out more about Weston College’s range of law courses and facilities, visit the Law and Professional Services Academy page of our website.