Equality and diversity
Equality is about creating a fairer organisation in which everyone is given the opportunities to fulfil their potential.
People who use our services, and those who work for us, have vastly different lifestyles in terms of social circumstances, wealth, housing, employment, where they live, their age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, culture and physical and mental abilities. All of these factors affect people’s ability to access services or to obtain or retain employment.
The creation of our Trust in 2002 was built on a commitment to be responsive and support the needs of the diverse population we serve. This is reflected in our Mission, Vision, Values and Goals, which were developed with our partners including representatives from our different communities and our staff.
When drawing up these statements, diversity, equality and inclusion were seen as central to us in terms of providing our services and being a large employer. It was also recognised that as part of the public sector we have a duty to positively promote diversity and equality.
We aim to make sure that services are designed and managed, as far as possible, to respect and value difference. Services should be capable of adapting to meet the needs of service users, their carers and staff from diverse groups. The Trust also recognises that equality of opportunity in employment and developing a workforce that reflects the community will enhance the quality of our services.
Equality is not about treating ‘everyone the same’, but recognising that everyone is different, and that people’s needs must be met in different ways. By embracing difference, we are able to create an environment where everyone feels respected and valued.
Please explore the links in this section to discover more about our work on equality and diversity.
