Cummins has discovered a new low in PR. They have taken a dead child, a disabled school and a swing, and turned the whole thing into an advert for how fucking kind they are. The Northern Echo, as usual, has its tongue so far up their exhaust it is a miracle they can still breathe.
Nobody is arguing against the swing. The swing is good. The kids deserve the swing. What they do not deserve is to be wheeled out as emotional props every time Cummins wants to whitewash its own record on “inclusion”.
This is not community work. This is inclusivity washing.
Inclusion On A Rope, Branding On Everything
Read the Echo piece for what it is. It is not news. It is a brochure.
Cummins has “proudly supported” the academy. An ex pupil’s swing could not be used any more. There is grief. Staff and local businesses raise money. Cummins employees visit, cry, and run back to a “grants committee”. Cheque approved. A shelter. A swing. Some quotes. Phase two will be a sensory garden. Cue photos. Cue brave smiles. Cue the Cummins logo everywhere except etched into the fucking clouds.
Every line is written to make Cummins look like the beating heart of decency in Darlington. The Northern Echo does not challenge a single thing. It just hands over the page like rented space.
It is not journalism. It is PR foreplay.
Inclusion, The Costume They Drag Out For The Cameras
For Cummins, “inclusion” is not a principle. It is a costume. They drag it out for events like this, pin it to a tragic story, and then hang it back up in the comms cupboard when they are done.
Outside the fence, they are sobbing over a swing and talking about journeys, hope and community. Inside their own walls, “inclusion” comes with teeth:
- disabled or chronically ill staff shoved into rigid absence and performance processes
- “support” that looks suspiciously like HR building a paper trail
- mental and physical health issues treated as problems to be contained, not accommodated
But you won’t hear that in the Echo. You get the soft-focus version where Cummins is apparently on some spiritual mission to uplift the vulnerable, one photo op at a time.
This is the trick. They behave like bastards where it matters, then wrap themselves in disability and grief to look holy.
Tears Are Cheap, Change Is Expensive
The article goes heavy on emotion because emotion is easy. “There was not a dry eye in the room.” Staff “deeply moved.” The project “means the world”.
Yeah, no shit it is emotional. A dead child. Disabled kids. Parents surviving the unthinkable. Anyone with a pulse would cry.
Cummins knows that. That is why this is the story they shove in front of you. Tears are cheap. Policy is not. Cheques are small. Structural change is not.
Notice what you do not get in the piece:
- no numbers on disabled or chronically ill staff at Cummins
- no data on adjustments requested versus granted
- no mention of grievances or tribunal embarrassments
- no discussion of how their shiny disability awards actually get “earned”
You get one swing, one shelter, one feel good narrative. You do not get any evidence that Cummins is inclusive anywhere except where there is a photographer and a ribbon.
The Northern Echo: Cummins’ Pet Megaphone
The Echo is supposed to be a newspaper. At this point it is basically Cummins’ community noticeboard with a crossword.
Every time Cummins needs polishing, the drill is the same:
- Cummins hands over a ready-made “story” about jobs, labs, awards or “inclusion”.
- The Echo slaps on a byline, adds some adjectives and runs it as news.
- Any awkward history about emissions cheating, legal scraps or internal culture magically vanishes.
This swing piece is pure template. Warm quotes. No context. No balance. No mention that the same company is up to its neck in a billion-plus emissions settlement and a long line of people whose experience of “inclusion” has been anything but.
The Echo gets easy content and advert money. Cummins gets its halo shined. The public gets played.
Kids As Human Shields
Here is the part that should make you properly sick.
You can already hear how this will be used the next time Cummins is challenged about:
- How it actually treats disabled and unwell employees
- Its pay to play disability award nonsense
- Its wider record on emissions, fines and accountability
We support special schools. We funded inclusive swings. We care deeply. Look at Beaumont Hill. Look at the sensory garden. Look at the photos of smiling kids.
That is the shield. Real children. Real grief. Real disability. All turned into armour plating for a multinational that does not want to answer serious questions.
Nobody can criticise them without sounding like they are taking a swing at the kids. That is the whole fucking point.
What An Honest Echo Piece Would Ask
An honest paper, not this simpering Echo variant, would have asked at least a few basic questions:
- How many disabled people does Cummins employ locally and globally?
- How many have left after disputes over health, adjustments or absence?
- What are Cummins’ outcomes on internal disability inclusion versus all this external noise?
- Why does a company this big need local fundraising to be the initial driver, before it swoops in as saviour?
Instead we get a long, wet corporate hug. No edge. No scrutiny. No hint that inclusion, to Cummins, is a branding exercise before it is a duty.
Inclusion Means More Than A Fucking Swing
Again, for the avoidance of doubt, the swing is good. The kids deserve better equipment. The families deserve support. The staff who actually drove this probably do care.
But Cummins is not entitled to launder its record off the back of that care. And The Northern Echo is not entitled to act like a stenographer while pretending it is a newspaper.
Real inclusion from Cummins would mean:
- Fixing the way they treat disabled and unwell staff
- Opening their books on outcomes and letting someone independent audit the damage
- Cutting the award circuit and doing the hard, quiet work instead of the flashy, paid-for “look at us” shit
Until then, every “journey to inclusion” headline is just that. A journey. Away from the truth and straight into PR fantasy.
You can hang as many swings as you like. If the culture underneath is rotten, it is still just a photo op on a scaffold of bullshit.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project