Equality, diversity, inclusion and equity are key principles for West Sussex Mind both as an employer and service provider. We have a responsibility to ensure that our mental health services are accessible to those who need it and that those working or volunteering with us have an environment in which they feel valued, respected and included. Here's what these terms mean to us.
- Equality means making sure that everyone is treated fairly and with dignity and respect. It means challenging discrimination and removing barriers, so that everyone has opportunities to achieve their desired outcomes.
- Diversity is about recognising the benefits of different values, abilities and perspectives, and celebrating people’s differences. This means promoting an environment that welcomes and values diverse backgrounds, thinking, skills and experience.
- Inclusion is providing a space where everyone has equal access to opportunities and resources, and where everyone feels valued and accepted. Everyone should be able to contribute and have a voice. This may mean making reasonable adjustments to facilitate participation.
- Equity recognises that we do not all start from the same place and we must acknowledge and make adjustments to redress imbalances. It also recognises that everyone has different circumstances and therefore needs different resources and opportunities to succeed.
Equality, diversity, inclusion and equity are part of our mission and values
Our mission and values are important to us. They shape and steer our interactions with each other and with everyone that we come into contact with, both internally and externally. We developed our values together with our employees. We’re proud of them and what they mean to us as an employer and a mental health service provider. Find out more about our mission and values using the related link below.
Our commitment
We strive to ensure that anyone who engages with us finds it easy to do so. We want you to feel we support you and treat you fairly, with dignity and respect. We know there is more for us to do as an organisation. Across all of our work, we continue striving to be a more accessible and inclusive organisation. We are committed to:
- Promoting our equality, diversity, inclusion and equity (EDIE) plans and monitoring how well we do as an organisation in delivering these
- Monitoring who is accessing our services and working or volunteering with us and using that data to challenge our approaches to service delivery, communication or recruitment, so that we can address any inequalities within our organisation
- Equipping our employees, volunteers and trustees with the skills, knowledge and support to advance equality, diversity, inclusion and equity.
- Increasing opportunities for those with lived experience of mental health problems - or who have faced discrimination or barriers to accessing services - to be involved in co-designing and co-producing our services
Individuals with different cultures, perspectives and experiences are at the heart of the way West Sussex Mind works. We want to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people, regardless of their background, and make the best use of their talents.
As a service provider, we are committed to providing services which embrace diversity and promote equality of opportunity. We will work within the spirit and the practice of the Equality Act 2010 by promoting a culture of respect and dignity and actively challenging discrimination, should it ever arise.
We will remove unnecessary barriers for our service users and employees. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments, contained in our mission and values, are embedded in our day-to-day working practices with our colleagues, partners and everyone who uses our services.
Our EDIE actions
We have set up an equality, diversity, inclusion and equity panel of staff and people with lived experience of mental health problems to focus on this area.
We have created an EDIE working group consisting of staff and trustees to lead this work. This group creates and reports on an annual action plan. The group also regularly receives progress reports from the EDIE panel.
There is ongoing promotion of EDIE awareness and understanding among staff and trustees and we identify barriers to support and participation and work out how to reduce them.
We commit to being open and accountable as we progress this work and you can read our annual EDIE action plan, including our achievements so far below. We understand that we have much more to do but we will move forward, listen, learn and take action.
