Foundation Derbyshire is committed to the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
- Equality is about removing barriers and making sure people from all sections of the community have fair and equitable opportunities to access services.
- Diversity is about respecting and valuing people’s differences and treating them in an appropriate way.
- Inclusion is about making sure that people feel comfortable to be themselves, and feel that they belong
Learning from and valuing all our communities, and all the voices within our communities, is our ongoing task at Foundation Derbyshire. It takes time and commitment.
If we fund your group, we expect your committee / trustees / directors and your members to create a culture where everyone genuinely feels invited, involved, and included in the shaping of activities or programmes.
The aim is to create an environment which people can access without barriers, and respects and welcomes everyone, and in which no form of bullying, harassment, or discriminatory behaviour is tolerated by anyone towards anyone.
Useful Ideas
Stepping back and looking at how we reach and work with those that need our services can be invaluable. We can often come at challenges from our own experience only, which makes sense, as it’s what we know – but we could be missing out on how other sections of our community feel, react, and interact.
How do you promote your group?
Consider, do you have the capacity to welcome people from a wider geographical area? Are you really reaching out and trying to make sure your group is known about in neighbouring towns and villages or perhaps even further afield? Where do most of your current membership travel in from?
Are you ensuring certain local agencies, other charities or community groups are aware of you – signposting from workers who daily connect with a range of vulnerable people or those that might need help / support, could be vital?
Relying on word of mouth only might mean you are only connecting with a small subset of people.
Do you have a social media presence or website – think about how it looks, the language used, how membership is represented
Are there any barriers to accessing your group?
Financial barriers
Most groups we work with are intrinsically in tune with their membership base; they will know if they can charge and how much they might be able to afford. We also know many groups rely on subs or fees to survive and pricing can be difficult. There is no one solution. Some groups have a reduced price for those on low incomes, others feel this is divisive.
Our grants are there to help with core costs so you can ensure access is open to all and that financial situations don’t prohibit those that need help the most.
Physical barriers
A group will be immediately off limits to many with mobility issues, or physical disabilities if there is no disabled access, or support systems such as hearing loops.
Physical distance
Many groups we support work in rural areas, where travel can be a barrier to accessing help and support. Whether public transport is limited or it’s access / cost of running a car.
Some groups coordinate car pick up schemes or use community transport. Once again Foundation Derbyshire can help with grants to reduce the impact of travel barriers.
Confidence barriers
For some people accessing a group for the first time can be daunting. Will the group be welcoming, will they feel overwhelmed, what will be expected of them? Recognising this will allow you to put into place systems for working with new members, from the first contact via phone, email, or website or even a conversation in the street, through to their first session and then how you follow up. Things you could consider: Welcome packs, buddying, overviews on your social media spaces or websites
Language Barriers
If you work in a community where there are community languages other than English spoken, think about how you might be able to reach out to those that need your services by removing language barriers. Providing interpreters or information in other languages can mean those that could use your help will be able to access it.
Remember Derby and Derbyshire has a significant and established deaf community, if you feel your service could be missing out supporting people from Derby / Derbyshire who are deaf we can help you develop contacts to address how to reach out and support.
