Equal Opportunities Policy

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Bluebell Foundation exists to provide support for people experiencing grief associated with loss during pregnancy and life-limiting or life-threatening illness or death of a baby, infant or child.

We hope to enable families to begin to understand their grief and cope with their loss.

• Introduction
  • The Bluebell Foundation aims to offer equality of access
  • The Bluebell Foundation aims to reflect at all levels within the organisation the population it serves
  • This policy, which applies to staff and volunteers, is intended to be used as a tool for continuous improvement
  • The Bluebell Foundation seeks to ensure quality through a policy that applies to all volunteers and staff and covers:
    • The governance and management at all levels of the organisation
    • The provision of services
    • Recruitment, employment and training
    • Liaison with funders and other organisations/ groups/ individuals
• Discrimination and Disadvantage
  • In society certain groups and individuals are discriminated against on the grounds of age, gender, class, culture, disability, ethnic origin, HIV status, race and sexuality. The Bluebell Foundation is committed to taking positive steps to ensure that equality of opportunity becomes an integral part of the organisation.
  • The Bluebell Foundation aims to eradicate all forms of discrimination within the organisation. Actions which discriminate against or disempower an individual in any way are unacceptable and will be investigated under grievance and disciplinary/ complaints procedures.
  • Every individual with the Bluebell Foundation has a duty to ensure that this policy is applied in practice to all areas. A particular responsibility falls upon those who have management responsibility for paid staff and volunteers.
• Volunteers and Employees
  • Anyone applying in any capacity to the organisation as well as existing staff and volunteers has a right to equality
  • Standards in recruitment and selection must be adhered to, ensuring that all processes are carried out fairly and without discrimination
  • Selection criteria and procedures will be frequently reviewed to ensure that individuals are selected on their relevant merits and abilities and trained according to the needs of the organisation.
  • Information about voluntary and paid posts should be disseminated as widely as possible to all sections of the community, for example through community radio and to organisations of disabled people.
  • There is a responsibility to ensure that applicants with discriminatory attitudes are not appointed.
• Access to services
  • The Bluebell Foundation should communicate with under-represented groups and seek to identify easy to remove barriers, which may deter them from receiving a service
  • In working towards this objective the Bluebell Foundation will endeavour to provide, for example, accessible premises and leaflets in large print, Braille, and other languages
  • The Bluebell Foundation seeks to work with specialist groups,(eg organisations of disabled people to ensure diversity is attained). Opportunity will be given for representation on the committees from these groups.
  • Clients needs will be respected ensuring that services are delivered sensitively recognising linguistic, cultural and other differences
• Training
  • All new staff and volunteers are expected to participate in equal opportunities training as part of their induction programme. This will be made available to existing staff and volunteers.
  • Ongoing equality training will be made available to develop individual skills
• Legal Requirements
  • The Bluebell Foundation has to comply with statutory requirements as laid down by, for example, the Race relations Act 1976, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. All areas of work will ensure and promote compliance with legal responsibilities
• Monitoring and Review
  • The committee has overall responsibility to monitor the effectiveness of this policy and to ensure compliance with funding and legal requirements. They should endeavour to keep in line with best practice.
  • There will be three yearly reviews of the policy by the committee