Midlanders shortlisted in National Diversity Awards

The National Diversity Awards, which celebrates the achievements of grassroots communities tackling issues in society, have announced the shortlisted nominees for 2025’s awards, and among them are activists from/based in the Midlands. Giving them recognition for their dedication and hard work, G Sabini-Roberts (They/Them) and Katie Neeves (She/Her) are both shortlisted the for positive role model awards (LGBT+).  

G Sabini-Roberts from Shropshire is a non-binary, queer, neurodivergent brand designer and consultant. They are an LGBTQ+ trainer, speaker and writer with decades of industry and activism experience, having delivered training and facilitating workshops in grassroots queer spaces since the 1990s. They founded BrandingbyG and The Queer Box, and are also a co-founder of Rainbow Wise; which offers LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Training for UK Schools, Colleges and Professionals, working With Children and Young People.

Katie Neeves is an openly transgender woman and a trans ambassador who works as a presenter and event host, and now resides in the East Midlands. She trained as a press photographer and worked on newspapers in Kent before moving to the Midlands to become a senior staff photographer with the Coventry Evening Telegraph, where she worked for five years before setting up her own freelance photography and video business in 1996.

In 2018, at the age of 48, she publicly came out in a video posted to social media and sent out to her clients. She has been honoured to win countless awards for her work over the years including: British Diversity Awards Hero of the Year 2023, Trans in the City Trans Community Champion 2022, and The Women's Awards East Midlands Outstanding Female LGBTQIA+ Champion 2023.

The winners of the National Diversity Awards will be announced on 19th September 2025 at a ceremony held at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.