Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Working Group advises on relevant issues, shares good practice, and is responsible for developing, implementing, and monitoring outcomes.

There is much work to do, and we are learning all the time. We know we will make mistakes, and sometimes, we may be unable to move as quickly as we would like. Deep, meaningful, and sustainable change takes time, but we are committed to living by our guiding principles and being accountable for our actions and behaviours.

Equality

A society or workplace free from discrimination, where everyone has the same opportunities and is treated with dignity and respect. Together with our community, we continuously strive to ensure that everyone affected by a muscle wasting condition is treated equally and given the support they need.

Equity

Knowing that not everyone starts in the same place and that everyone’s needs are different. We achieve equality by treating people as individuals, giving them what they need, and levelling the playing field.

Diversity

Understanding and embracing the full breadth of differences between people in society and the workplace. We believe that everyone should be respected and celebrated for who they are. By bringing together our different experiences, skills and ideas, we can achieve incredible things for the muscle wasting community.

Inclusion

Actively creating an environment and culture in which everyone is comfortable, valued and respected. We’re striving to build a society without barriers for people affected by muscle wasting conditions, where everyone feels like they belong.

We have five principles to help achieve our vision of becoming an equitable, inclusive and diverse organisation.

Culture

We are working to ensure our employees embody the values of our organisation, are culturally competent, and are welcoming to people of all backgrounds.

• We maintain a culture that is reflective and respectful of our core equality, diversity and inclusion values
• We encourage staff to challenge norms and play an active role in creating a more inclusive culture
• We seek employee feedback on changes that will impact their job responsibilities and work environment
• We provide sufficient staffing, increase transparency, and maintain relevant and timely objectives through annual reviews
• We make, document and communicate decisions clearly and transparently to staff and other stakeholders
• We are improving the ongoing mental health wellbeing support available for employees and seeking to remove stigma through open conversations and regular activities
• Our ‘EDI Champions’ monitor behaviour to ensure each team within the charity is upholding our values, reporting any concerns

Training 

We provide regular training so that all staff have a shared understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion.

• We regularly provide mandatory equality, diversity and inclusion training for all staff to promote ongoing learning
• We regularly review our equality, diversity and inclusion training for staff to ensure that it is relevant and up-to-date
• We regularly share equality, diversity, and inclusion resources and information related to promote continued discussion and help deepen understanding
• We ensure that all training is engaging, accessible and reflective of individual staff requirements, including online and face-to-face training opportunities
• We offer bespoke learning and development opportunities for staff as required

Recruitment 

We maximise opportunities to attract, develop and retain diverse representation across all job levels within the charity.

• We audit our recruitment processes on an ongoing basis to reduce the potential for bias and unintended barriers
• We implement our equality, diversity and inclusion values in every stage of our recruitment and strive to reach a diverse audience through recruitment advertising and campaigns
• We run the Moving Up internship scheme to provide professional development and nurture talent among young disabled people
• We measure and monitor our recruitment metrics and trends so our organisation becomes more representative of the communities and people we support
• We offer hybrid (home and office) and remote working wherever possible to encourage applicants from outside London

Accessibility 

We identify and remove barriers that may prevent people who could benefit from our support from accessing it.

• We ensure that all our charity events and our office are fully accessible
• We create and constantly strive to improve accessibility guidelines for our communications materials and website
• We will undertake a review of the languages we should prioritise for translating our information resources and content
  • As an organisation, we recognise that use of the Welsh language is central to national identity and is integral to culture, heritage, and people’s daily lives. As such, we have been working closely with the Welsh language commissioners Hybu team to complete our Welsh Language Development plan which we have now begun implementing this across the charity as good practice.
• We remove any barriers preventing communities who are currently not reached through our Muscle Groups (support groups)
• We support regional Muscle Groups across the UK so people can attend face-to-face as well as online
• We identify and overcome barriers so that everyone can access care and support as part of our community outreach project
• We share all the resources relating to accessibility we have on our website (for example, the Changing Places toilet map)

Identity

We ensure our brand and support services are representative, inclusive, and reflective of a diverse UK population.

• We are improving diversity across our brand and communications by proactively sourcing stories, photography and content that is representative of our community
• We have produced inclusive language guidelines, and we ensure staff understand and use inclusive language in all our communications
• We prioritise promoting services that are available nationally (including our helpline and advocacy service) and are reviewing how we can improve our regional support
• We monitor who is accessing our services and supporting the charity, regularly gathering digital and face-to-face feedback to ensure we are reaching the whole muscle wasting community
• We work with our volunteer Content Advisory Group to ensure our external materials and messaging are representative, accessible and engaging
• We work with our Lay Research Panel and Medical Research Committee to ensure research investment for treatments and cures is as diverse as it can be without compromising the quality of the science.

We hold ourselves accountable for delivering on our guiding principles in three ways.

As an organisation

We have developed an audit tool to continuously monitor our progress and outcomes. Our Senior Leadership Team and Trustees have embedded equality, diversity, and inclusion as integral to the charity’s mission.

Through our staff

We have established ‘EDI Champions’ with action plans to ensure their teams actively promote equality, diversity and inclusion and meet our organisational commitments. We also conduct regular surveys for staff members to provide feedback on our progress.

Through our community

We listen to people from different backgrounds living with a muscle wasting condition to ensure we continue to be accessible, inclusive, and responsive to their needs. We also encourage anyone who has any questions about our progress to contact EDI@musculardystrophyuk.org.