DHU colleagues who want to follow their faith during work hours can now do so at its Derby HQ after a space has been transformed into a multi-faith prayer room.
Most DHU bases have one and now the Roundhouse HQ building on the Pride Park Business Park has seen a space initially used as a quiet spot for Teams meetings transformed.
Sabia Hussain is DHU’s 111 and 999 Integration Programme Director and told us: “I was talking to a few people who are devout followers of their chosen faith, some of whom need to pray up to five times a day. Whilst there is a wellbeing area, there was nowhere private to carry this out which made it difficult for some.
“I spoke about it to our Chief Executive who raised it with our Estates Team. We realised that there were at least six private spaces and more self-contained booths for working in private within an open plan office, with one that was particularly private that could be adapted into a Prayer Room.
“There is also a shower room and wash facilities in the building for those who need it as part of their ritual. I’m so pleased that DHU has taken this seriously and built it into what we now have on site. It shows a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion that I’m proud to be a part of.”
Ruth Wright is DHU’s Deputy Head of Estates who added: “It is the most obvious space as it is more private than the other rooms and not overlooked by any desk space. There is plenty of additional space for people to use if they need to have a private conversation or quiet place to work, some of them are available to book and others are designed for ad-hoc, shorter periods of time.
“Since beginning our work on Roundhouse more than two years ago, it has become obvious that a Prayer Room is in important part of design space. Our new buildings in Chesterfield and Oldbury had multi-faith facilities built in and refurbishment on our Derby 111 Advice Centre also provided this for our people.
“We have a responsibility to consider what makes people comfortable, valued and important when working here. I’d like to thank Sabia for helping us to move this forward and hope that it makes a difference to our Roundhouse colleagues.”
The new Multi-Faith Room can be found on the top floor at the front of the building to the right as you look at it.