Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

For us, equality means providing our services in ways that can be accessed easily and that works for the people who need them. It means providing the opportunity for our staff to fulfil their potential, free from discrimination.

Diversity means that we recognise the value of difference and the benefits of our staff, Trustees, volunteers, and fundraisers being representative of the people we support. We are proud to be part of such a multicultural city and we will further our efforts to reach out to all the communities within it.

Being inclusive shows that we value people as individuals; that our staff can be themselves without fear of discrimination, harassment, or victimisation. It means we welcome, value and care about all the people who need our support.

• We commit to fostering a culture and environment that provides equitable opportunities for all.
• We commit to recognising, encouraging, and celebrating diversity.
• We commit to growing an inclusive culture where people are empowered to be themselves, feel valued and are treated with dignity and respect.

We will monitor our progress towards meeting these commitments and keep these under regular review. Our priorities for the next 12 months are:

• To deliver a programme of equality, diversity and inclusion training to our staff, volunteers, and Trustees.
• To understand better the diversity of our staff, volunteers, and Trustees and of those seeking to use our services.
• To review our equality, diversity and inclusion policy and create a mechanism to assess the equality impact of our policies.
• To reach out actively to the widest range of communities and reflect this engagement in our communications.
• To work closely with representatives of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust BAME Network to share learning, experiences and opportunities for enhancement as well as supporting funding and fundraising initiatives relevant to the work of the Network.