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Diversity, Equality & Inclusion

EDI Statement

We are a charity that promotes social justice. We seek to ensure that the people we work alongside and our team of staff and volunteers have a voice, are included, valued, have equitable access, and have equal opportunities to achieve. We strive to do this through our values of empowerment, collaboration, compassion and taking a personalised approach in all aspects of our work.

We want to ensure we are doing everything we can to action our words within our charity, with our partners, the people we work alongside and the communities we work in.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) are integral to this.

Systemic oppression, including racism, sexism and homophobia, exists in many systems that affect people’s lives, this includes the charity sector, our sector (see links at bottom of the article for relevant reports).

We want to step up and show our commitment to progressing EDI at Connection Support. This means recognising areas where we need to make changes and being held accountable for taking appropriate action. We are committed to becoming a more representative charity, where our team, including trustees and leadership, represent the people we work alongside – diverse people and communities. We want Connection Support to truly be a place where everyone is equally welcomed, valued and has the same opportunities to contribute and grow.

Our EDI journey is just beginning

We are committed to the following actions to get us started:

  • Our leadership team will commit to the ACEVO Eight Principles to address the diversity deficit in charity leadership.
  • We will work with an independent EDI expert to help us take a deeper look within. To assess our current reality, challenge our thinking and current practices, review our policies and help us build a shared understanding in order to create meaningful change.
  • From these insights, we will start to build an EDI plan that highlights our priorities and objectives.
  • We will build a plan together as a team, giving everyone across the organisation the opportunity to contribute and for their voice to be heard – a plan that places EDI at the core of our daily work and aligns with our values and strategic plan.
  • We will roll out Everyday Inclusion & Unconscious Bias training to all staff and build upon this with other relevant training.
  • We will provide training on inclusion to all managers and the senior leadership team.
  • We will drive forward our efforts in co-production and understanding the value of lived experience across the whole charity, at all levels.

These initial steps will ensure that Connection Support is building a more inclusive, safe and positive working environment for all our team, as well as enhancing our engagement with partners, beneficiaries and the communities we work in.

We are excited to be taking these steps to begin redefining what EDI means within Connection Support and look forward to working together on this.

Chris Keating (CEO) & the Senior Leadership Team

September 2021

 

Related Reports:

Home Truths Report – ACEVO_Voice4Change_home_truths_report_v1.pdf

Charity So White – Charity So White

LGBT in Britain – Work Report 2018 – https://www.stonewall.org.uk/lgbt-britain-work-report

LGBTQ+ Youth Homeless Report – The LGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness Report | akt

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