Back in 2021, our Senior Leadership Team and Board of Trustees made an explicit commitment to prioritise Equality, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (EDEI) at Connection Support, resulting in the implementation of an ambitious and thorough action plan. This saw us develop our first-ever EDEI statement.
In 2022, we continued to progress our commitment to EDEI by working collaboratively with The Diversity Trust CIC to review our working practices, policies, and organisational culture and identify priorities going forward. They facilitated an organisation-wide, anonymous survey and conducted focus groups and interviews to produce a detailed report which outlined key learnings, reflections, and recommendations. One such recommendation was to develop EDEI Champion roles that would provide staff with the opportunity to help influence organisational culture.
We’re proud to say that in 2023 we implemented these roles. Now, our EDEI Champions meet regularly to discuss ways in which we can promote positive practice and hold the organisation accountable to meet the actions specified on our EDEI development plan. To date, we’ve made changes across the entire organisation, including across our marketing and our recruitment practices, and now we’re set to start developing a new EDEI development plan in 2024/2025.
Our vision is to be a proactively inclusive organisation that’s free from discrimination, and we want everyone who interacts with us to feel welcome, safe, treated with respect, and valued. As a charity that seeks to provide support to individuals who are facing challenges, we’re passionate about having a presence at local events to ensure we’re inclusive and reflective of all the communities we serve. This year, we were proud 20th Anniversary Sponsors of Oxford Pride, and we were given the opportunity to show our support by marching in the parade. Sponsoring events like Oxford Pride provides us with the opportunity to connect with individuals who might benefit from our services, whilst networking with other organisations, and raising awareness of our work amongst the public, ultimately helping us to reach more people.