We are committed to being an inclusive employer and charity that welcomes diversity: it’s crucial to our future success. It is something that we know we could be doing better and so we are committed and determined to improve.
At Wessex Cancer Support we want a culture that is supportive, inclusive and safe for everyone. We are proud therefore, to launch out first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy to demonstrate our commitment, as a Charity and Leadership Team, to improvement in EDI at Wessex Cancer Support. This document explains our aims, priorities and actions to achieve these and it will also ensure that we hold and keep ourselves accountable.
Our strategic EDI priorities and promises
Our ultimate aim is to create a supportive, inclusive and safe environment for everyone. To achieve this, we have two key priorities:
1. To increase the diversity across our staff, volunteers and leaders. Our people are our greatest assets. Without our dedicated staff and volunteer team, we couldn’t provide the vital services that we do. It is therefore crucial that we have an inclusive and diverse workforce which offers a breadth of skills and perspective and is representative of the diversity within the region.
Actions we will take
Review our policy
−•We will review and republish our EDI policy.
Our commitment
+• We commit to truly understanding where we are now by completing a survey of staff and volunteers. We will use this data to benchmark ourselves and monitor our progress over time through annual reviews.
Review recruitment processes
+• We will complete a full review of our recruitment and selection approaches and processes. This will include a review of interview material and where and how we advertise roles to ensure our approach is inclusive and reaches out to everyone.
Staff training
+• We will design and implement training for all staff, managers and volunteers to aid them in supporting a diverse and inclusive working environment.
Representation of all communities
+• We will complete full reviews of the images that are used across our publications, to ensure that these are a fair representation of the communities in which we work.
2. To increase the diversity of our service users and remove barriers which could prevent someone from accessing our cancer support. At Wessex Cancer Support, our ambition is for a future where everyone affected by cancer receives person-centred care that empowers them to live well with and beyond cancer. To achieve this we will ensure that there is an awareness of our services and that they are understood by, and accessible to, all the different communities within our region.
Actions we will take
Service users surveys
−• We commit to understanding where we are by completing a survey of service users. We will use this data to benchmark ourselves and monitor our progress over time through annual reviews.
Review our brand
+• We will review our brand to assess if it continues to be fit for purpose and appealing to wide audiences within the region. This will include a review of images used in publications and online to ensure they are representative of the region.
Review brand building activities
+• We will undertake brand building activities in communities currently underrepresented in our services for example to raise profile of our services.
