With its headquarters in Loughborough, Leicestershire, children's charity the Youth Sport Trust ranked 21^st nationally and 1^st in the East Midlands.

This year’s Top 100 was the largest ever with 503 employers entering, demonstrating their commitment to LGBT workplace inclusion.

As part of the Top 100, Stonewall collects more than 109,000 anonymous responses from employees on their experience of Britain’s workplace culture and diversity. This year, 81% of LGBT employees who responded to the survey said they feel able to be themselves in the workplace.

Youth Sport Trust Chief Executive Ali Oliver said:

We are thrilled to have been recognised in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index and as Employer of the Year in the East Midlands.

Promoting inclusion and championing diversity are central to our charity’s mission. We know that young people who feel they don’t fit in – perhaps due to a disability, their background or sexual orientation - are most likely to miss out on sport. Yet often it is these young people would gain the most from the aspirations, life skills and belonging that sport can offer.

“Turning this around goes to the heart of what we do and is reflected in the way we go about our work, with a strong culture of respecting difference, valuing individuality and welcoming all.

“In 2019 we were particularly proud to establish a new LGBTQ+ Sport Network Group for staff of the Youth Sport Trust and our partners which is continuing to grow in membership. In addition to this we put on awareness training for staff and partners, made our procurement procedures more inclusive and stepped up our engagement in important national campaigns like LGBT history month and supporting Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces movement.”

Stonewall’s 2018 Work Report revealed more than a third of LGBT staff (35%) have hidden they are LGBT at work and almost one in five LGBT employees (18%) have been the target of negative comments from colleagues because of their identity.

Sanjay Sood-Smith, Stonewall’s Executive Director of Workplace & Community Programmes, said:

“We are delighted to name Youth Sport Trust as one of our Top 100 Employers this year. All the organisations in this year's Top 100 Employer's list are playing a huge role in improving the lives of LGBT people and should be very proud of their work.

We still don't live in a world where everyone is able to be themselves in the workplace, as we know more than a third of LGBT staff (35%) hide who they are at work. By taking steps to make their workplaces supportive and welcoming of all lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, businesses like the YST are bringing us closer to a world where everyone is accepted without exception.

Stonewall’s Top 100 is compiled from submissions to the Workplace Equality Index, a powerful benchmarking tool used by employers to assess their achievements and progress on LGBT equality in the workplace, as well as their wider work in the community and on service provision.

Each organisation must demonstrate their expertise in 10 areas of employment policy and practice, including networking groups, senior leadership, procurement and how well they’ve engaged with LGBT communities.

To see the full list, please visit: www.stonewall.org.uk/full-list-top-100-employers-2020