Equality & Diversity

Our Values
We believe that everyone should be treated with respect and dignity. We strive to prevent discrimination in our services and in our workplaces so that everyone feels welcome and at ease. We welcome people from all ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, socio-economic classes, religions, disabilities and ages in everything we do.

Diversity is important to us. We appreciate difference through inclusiveness. It gives us a deeper understanding of the world and the needs of the people we’re working with. We aim to make our organisation accessible to all and strive to make sure we do not discriminate on the basis of sex, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic class, religion, disability or age. This applies to everyone in our organisation including employees, volunteers and customers.

Discrimination
We take discrimination to mean acting unfairly against an individual or a group by exclusion, verbal comment, denigration, harassment, victimisation, failure to appreciate needs or assumption of needs without consultation.

Access to Nature
We recognise that time spent in nature is important for mental and physical health and that currently some groups of people are either prevented or discouraged from exploring green spaces for a number of reasons including access, discrimination and visibility. As our organisation grows we aim to reach out to marginalised groups to encourage them to enjoy our outdoor sessions and to create a space where they feel safe and welcomed.

Our Commitment
We understand the importance of diversity and difference and we aim to be a fully inclusive organisation. We will draw on the experiences and expertise of our staff and volunteers to help shape and enrich our practices and services. We will do this by asking them for regular feedback on their experience within the organisation and specifically if they feel they have experienced discrimination, bias or any barriers that prevented them from working to their best ability.
We will take feedback from all our participants and ask them if they feel they experienced any discrimination, bias or if there were any barriers to them having a great experience with us.
We will use this information to adapt and grow towards inclusivity and equality.
We will regularly review the knowledge and skills of our staff and update our diversity policies and practises so they best match the diverse range of people who use our services and the wider community.
We will be open and thoughtful when we talk to others.
We will encourage openness and allow staff to bring their authentic self to the workplace.
Employees and volunteers will be made aware of all our policies and they have a responsibility to co-operate with our values. They also have a responsibility to report to the directors any discrimination they suspect is taking place.