All In and Arts Council England named as Disability Smart Award Winners
- News
30 April 2025
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We are pleased to announce that All In and Arts Council England have won in the Disability Smart Procurement Category at the Disability Smart Awards 2025.
Business Disability Forum’s yearly Disability Smart Awards celebrate the work of organisations that are improving the life experiences of disabled employees and consumers.
The Disability Smart Procurement award, a new category for 2025, is in recognition of our work to better the opportunities and experiences for disabled people through inclusive procurement practices. All In is developed by disabled people for disabled people, and in important focus was to find ways to build inclusivity into the very early procurement stages of the project, such as working with disabled consultants, engaging disabled people through our advisory groups, and building in specific criteria for potential suppliers to demonstrate how they will include lived experience in their work.
Colleagues Abid Hussain and Roger Dennis represent All In and Arts Council England as they collect the Disability Smart Procurement award on a purple, backlit stage at the Disability Smart Awards 2025. On either side, they’re joined by Diane Lightfoot, CEO Business Disability Forum, and Simon Minty, ambassador of Business Disability Forum.
As we prepare for the roll out of All In in the second half of 2025, this award is a significant milestone in the process.
Congratulations to all other finalists!
“Winning this award is just the beginning of what hopes to be an exciting and important journey.”
Tim Wheeler, Senior Project Manager, All In, said: “We’re thrilled to have won the Procurement Category at the Disability Smart Awards 2025. The All In team, together with our procurement colleagues at Arts Council England, are proud to put access and inclusion at the heart of our work.
“We aim to build these values in from the very start of every project. This is helping us to make lasting change across the whole organisation and highlights the importance of suppliers who include disabled voices and lived experience in what they do. All In will launch in the second half of 2025. Winning this award is just the beginning of what hopes to be an exciting and important journey.”
Darren Henley, Chief Executive, Arts Council England, said: “All In has provided valuable learnings for Arts Council England that we can take forward for future procurement. By building lived experience into the procurement process, All In demonstrates its commitment to being developed by disabled people for disabled people. I am thrilled for the team and Arts Council England colleagues; and look forward to seeing how All In will improve experiences in the creative and cultural sector for disabled people across the UK and Ireland.”