An initiative which aims to raise awareness for people with invisible disabilities is being adopted by transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD), which has the second largest of its eight UK offices in Bristol.
The globally recognised Hidden Disabilities Sunflower (HDS) is used by anyone who wants to indicate that they may need extra support or help, extra time and patience, understanding and kindness. 
WBD’s Disability Network led the launch of the scheme, with the firm – which has more than 120 partners and around 450 lawyers in the UK – becoming only the fourth in the UK legal sector to adopt it.
WBD staff have undertaken training on the HDS and been offered related products -so they can indicate they have a non-visible disability or long-term condition or that they are a supporter of HDS wearers.
WBD legal director and chair of its Disability Network, Michelle Essen, said rolling out the sunflower across the firm was crucial to enhancing accessibility for everyone at WBD as well as everyone it interacts with on a day-to-day basis.
“The sunflower is a great way of making everyone feel included without having to offer explanations or justifications, and without judgment,” Michelle, pictured, added.
“And the feedback has been amazing – we have dedicated ‘sunflower champions’ in each of our offices, and wearers of both the sunflower and I Support Sunflower say that open and constructive conversations are being sparked about disability, long-term conditions and neurodiversity.” 
WBD senior HR project executive Laura Tokell, who is also a member of the firm’s Disability Network, added: ”WBD Disability Network has been working extremely hard to make the firm more accessible for our people, clients and visitors, so when exploring the HDS membership we knew signing up would be another step in the right direction.
“Following the roll-out of training across the business, the response has been really positive. We have also introduced this as part of our induction, so it becomes a standard for everyone in the business.
“The HDS membership is vital and will form part of our broader DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] work around becoming a more inclusive business.”
Hidden Disabilities Sunflower CEO Paul White welcomed WBD’s involvement, saying: “Embedding the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower into the induction process demonstrates that disability inclusion is at the forefront WBDs employment practices.
“The sunflower acts as a simple and effective tool to begin important discussions in the workplace to ensure that everyone is heard and included and, importantly, supported.”
WBD became one of only five UK law firms to achieve Disability Confident Leader status earlier this year – the highest accreditation in the government scheme.
Its Disability Network has also been shortlisted for various awards at the British Diversity Awards, the Legal 500 ESG Awards and the upcoming Diversity Network Awards.
