We are delighted to be sponsoring local youth football club Ratho United, with its logo appearing on the 2016 teams’ kit.

Established in 2020, Ratho United Youth Football Club is passionate about creating an inclusive and accessible environment for youngsters to train and play football with their friends.

The community football club which welcomes girls and boys aged between 5 and 11 will don the Muckle Media logo across their newest team – 2016s – strips which are worn to the weekly training sessions, friendly matches and tournaments.

The club is dedicated to promoting and developing health and fitness in children, aligned with our commitment to giving back to the communities it works in.

Putting inclusivity at the forefront of their mission, Ratho United is passionate about creating a space which fosters friendships, community spirit, respect and sportsmanship.

Nathalie Agnew, Managing Director at Muckle Media said; “The positive and inclusive ethos of Ratho United Football Club is something that resonates strongly with the team at Muckle Media. We are very passionate about finding ways in which we can positively contribute to communities and provide help and funding where possible. Sponsoring Ratho United 2016s is something which we are very excited about and thrilled to be a part of.”

Mikey Stewart, Volunteer Coach and Committee Member at Ratho United said; “We are delighted that Muckle Media has joined us as a sponsor, helping support the formation of our latest year group of 2016s. Community spirit is one of Ratho United’s core values, so we are pleased to partner with local businesses that work in our communities.”

When pride comes along every June, it is a time of celebration and joy, but I know I am not the only queer person who feels frustrated by the amount of rainbow washing companies apply to their campaigns and socials. To cultivate an environment of safety and respect, where queer people can openly live their identity in the workplace all year round, and not just one month of the year, the below tips are easy to implement, but can go a long way.  

• Everyone on your team should understand what ‘LGBTQ+’ means

This may seem basic to some, but you cannot assume that everyone has the same level of understanding. For those who don’t know, the community represented by the LGBTQ+ acronym is generally defined as anyone who identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, or other sexual orientations and gender identities. ‘Queer’ is an umbrella term used by many LGBTQ+ people to mean they are not heterosexual or cisgender. It was originally a slur, which meant ‘odd’ or ‘strange’, but it has since been reclaimed.

In general, our society recognises just two genders, male and female, and tends to tie gender identity to biological sex. The idea that there are only two genders is referred to as a “gender binary,” binary meaning “two parts”. “Non-binary” is a term people use to describe genders that don’t fall into the two categories male or female. Being nonbinary is not a ‘fad’. The idea that people do not identify strictly as male or female has existed for centuries. ‘Cisgender’ describes a person whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth.

• It should not be the responsibility of your queer colleagues to educate the rest of the team

Of course, people can ask their colleagues for their perspectives, but queer people are not here to educate you. Learning about the LGBTQ+ community needs to come off your own back. Learning about a community you are not familiar with will mean you won’t recognise terms, or understand things, and that’s ok. Books, YouTube videos, and even Netflix shows are great resources to better understand the complexity of LGBTQ+ peoples’ lives.

When creating campaigns around pride, naturally the perspective of queer teammates is beneficial, but do not place an expectation that they will be the source of all ideas because of their identity.

• Make your internal communications inclusive

If you’ve not already guessed it, language is key for including LGBTQ+ people. You should not make assumptions about how your colleagues identify themselves. By gendering someone as he/him or she/her based on their biological sex, you risk excluding someone without even realizing it. When addressing team members whose gender identities you don’t know for sure, use they/them pronouns and to find out, simply ask them, “hey, what pronouns do you use?”.

In emails or on slack, openings such as “hey all, folks, team, friends, everybody, everyone” are great, genderless phrases. Something as small as putting your pronouns in your email signature and social media profiles makes your allyship visible. It signals to trans and non-binary colleagues that you understand that pronouns are not a given. Of course, not everyone will feel comfortable stating their pronouns in their correspondence, and that’s ok too!

• Provide training and have open and honest discussions

Most of the time, when a colleague misgenders someone or says something ignorant, it’s exactly that, ignorance. It doesn’t come from a place of mal intent, it’s usually because they are unfamiliar with these issues or don’t have many queer people in their lives. Having open, honest and non-judgmental conversations about what we don’t know, will allow us to identify what knowledge gaps there are on the team and what training needs to be provided to get everyone on the same page.

It takes continuous effort and a desire to learn in order to create a culture of inclusivity in your workplace. When pride comes in June, get involved, but ask yourself why you’re doing it and how you will continue your allyship beyond July 1^st.

Due to its commitment to goals beyond profit, Muckle Media is now officially a B Corporation organisation. The creative Scottish PR agency joins big name brands such as Beauty Kitchen, STV, Patagonia and The Body Shop in certifying and pledging to deliver impact through its business model.

Programmes including Muckle Media’s Returners to Communications Programme and Kickstart trainee scheme supported the application, along with Living Wage employer status. Transparency within agency operations and a commitment to continued professional development were also important.

B Corp Certification expects high standard, verified performance in a huge range of social and environmental issues from evaluating your organisation’s mission to reviewing employee benefits and evaluating waste disposal. Complete transparency and accountability are required throughout the process, which involves working with an assessor and evidencing a broad selection of ethical business processes.

Maintaining certification is just as rigorous as achieving the status in the first place and requires involvement and dedication from the whole team. By becoming a B-Corp, Muckle Media has committed to continuing to measure, manage, and improve on the positive impact it has on the environment,  employees, clients, the PR community, and all those around us.

Muckle Media MD, Nathalie Agnew said, “Becoming fully B-Corp certified is a fantastic achievement that the entire team is incredibly proud of. We also appreciate that with this comes a responsibility to fulfil our ongoing commitment and dedication to continuously improve our social and environmental standards. Our pledges to environmental, social and corporate governance issues are at the heart of our business and underpin our strategy for significant growth this year.”

“It has been a lengthy process to get to this point and we recognise that this is only the start of our B-Corp journey. We have a long way to go to achieve our impact ambitions, but we are delighted to become part of this prestigious group of leading organisations that have also reached B-Corp status and are paving the way in the global movement for an inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.”

The initial assessment requires a minimum verified score of 80 points to continue with the process, thereafter any gaps are considered to be a work in progress and areas to focus on going forward.

As listed on www.bcorporation.net, in order to achieve certification, a company must:

• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing a risk review.

• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction.

• Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website.

If you are thinking about becoming B-Corp certified and have any questions, please get in touch. We would love to share our experience and tips with you or support you with the process in any way we can.