Equality and diversity

We believe that everyone has the right to fair treatment and equality of opportunity
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As both a provider of homes and a major employer, we recognise we have a moral and legal responsibility to promote equality and diversity in relation to our staff and our customers.

We believe that everyone has the right to fair treatment and equality of opportunity, recognising that our customers and employees come from diverse backgrounds and have a diverse range of needs. We will do this by applying the FREDIE principles of inclusion.

 

Our Pledge

Customers
We will:

  • Ensure all our residents and customers have inclusive and equal access to our services.
  • Communicate in a format reasonably requested.
  • Offer reasonable adjustments.
  • Prioritise hate crime.
  • Offer accessible document reading kits for free.
  • Ensure all voices amongst our resident and customer base are heard, making special efforts to engage hard to hear groups.
Staff
We will:

  • Recruit and select fairly and with flexibility to maximise the diversity of applicants that we attract.
  • Offer learning and development with inclusive and equal access and ensure training is delivered regularly so that colleagues are equipped to deliver on our inclusive values.
  • Develop our people to help them reach their potential, including training, coaching and mentoring.
  • Ensure there are equal opportunities in development and promotion, regardless of background or characteristics.
  • Strive to ensure that all levels of staff are fully representative of the communities we serve, including senior management and leadership.
  • Provide any reasonable adjustments at work where they are required.
Governance
We will:

  • Strive to ensure our Board and Committees reflect our customer base and communities.
  • Ensure that all Board papers give due regard to equality impact considerations.
  • Annually deliver a full ED&I report for Board consideration.
  • Annually carry out a personal characteristics survey for all Board and Committee members.
  • Demand a robust Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan every year for scrutiny internally and externally.
  • Ensure we seek external accreditation and review of our inclusion performance.
  • Annually deliver diversity and inclusion training.
Other Partners
We will:

  • Support local community groups in promoting community cohesion through small grants, signposting and general support and engagement.
  • Insist on commitment from our major suppliers to abide by our FREDIE values and will spot check that they comply.
  • Partner with authorities and agencies which share our inclusion values and benefits our residents and communities.
  • Use our procurement frameworks and processes to maximise local community benefit including local goods, supply chains and labour.

Equality and Diversity Commitments

To ensure we achieve our Equality and Diversity aims, we set ourselves challenging tasks every year and report back on how we have done.

Read more about our Equality and Diversity Commitments here

Community outreach

Together Housing values partnerships with trusted organisations in our areas of operation. We know they are an invaluable link to our customers and can help us make connections on which better partnerships and products & services can be created.

Staff support networks

We also recognise the immense value that staff support networks can add to our workplace. These networks provide support to their members through ongoing training and advice. They provide insight on the diversity of our people and run events to keep staff aware of how to respond to differing needs.

We formally recognise and support the following staff support networks:

  • Culturally Diverse staff
  • Disability the Together Housing Group disability network
  • LGBT+ for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender staff
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Our Vision

Find out about our Vision for the future.