Active Gloucestershire's Commitment to Equality
Active Gloucestershire recognises the value of sport and the important role it plays in enhancing the quality of life. Our vision is to "make Gloucestershire a physically active and successful sporting county" and we are committed to ensuring that opportunities are accessible to all those who wish to start, stay and succeed in sport.
We firmly believe that everyone should have the opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity regardless of their age, gender, disability, race, ethnic origin, nationality, colour, parental or marital status, religious belief, class or social background, sexual preference or political belief.
We are committed to working in partnership to ensure that there is equal access and choice for everyone wishing to be involved in sport and physical activity, whether as a participant or as a volunteer, as well as for all those wishing to follow a career in sport and leisure. Active Gloucestershire acknowledges that inequalities exist and will take positive action to minimise them.
Our Equality Policy
Active Gloucestershire has recently published an Equity Policy to support the establishment of a working and sporting culture that respects and values differences and to provide a framework through which to positively eliminate all forms of discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Click here to view a copy of our Equity Policy.
Should you require a copy of the policy in an alternative format, such as Braille, large print or audio, please contact us on 01242 715244 or email: smcquaid@glos.ac.uk
The Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport
The Equality Standard is a framework to guide sports and community organisations towards achieving equality. It has been designed to assist organisations in developing structures and processes, assessing performance and ensuring continuous improvement. It is a collaboration of the four Home Country Sports Councils and UK Sport, and is supported by the CCPR, the Women's Sports Foundation, the English Federation of Disability Sport and Sporting Equals.
For further details about The Equality Standard, click here.
Active Gloucestershire received notification from the UK Accreditation Panel in June 2007 that we had achieved Foundation Level, which shows that Active Gloucestershire is:
- committed to equality
- has an equality policy that has been communicated and is understood by staff and key volunteers
- is aware of its current profile in terms of equality.
Equality Action Plan
The Equality Action Plan is the key to ensuring Active Gloucestershire:
- understands the issues and barriers faced by under-represented groups in sport
- has a robust equality action plan which all staff, volunteers and key stakeholders understand
- all staff and volunteers understand the principles of equality and their role in delivering against the equality action plan
- partner organisations and new audiences are aware of, and are engaged in, the delivery of the Partnership's equality action plan.
Active Gloucestershire Equality Action Plan Updated
Active Gloucestershire has updated its Equality Action Plan. In September 2007, Active Gloucestershire was awarded the Preliminary Level of The Equality Standard: A Framework for Sport.The award of the Preliminary Level means Active Gloucestershire is able to demonstrate it is developing as an organisation to understand the issues and barriers faced by under-represented groups, and that we have a robust Equality Action Plan which is reviewed regularly by the Board. As a result of the plan, several key actions have been completed including:
·CSPANs established with representatives from priority groups, or with close relationships to them.
·Introduction of a website funding section.
·A number of Community Sports Coaches have a significant proportion of their delivery dedicated to priority groups, including the recruitment of a full time Inclusion Community Sports Coach.
·Gloucestershire Disability Football Centre of Excellence established.
Ongoing achievements include 2400 children receiving FUNdamentals & Multiskills coaching through Active Start programme. The scheme is run from SureStart Centres which are based in the lowest socio-economic areas of Gloucestershire.
Flooding caused cancellation of both the planned inclusive summer sports day events. The action likely to experience problems in achieving the scheduled target date of June 2008 is the introduction of a Gloucestershire Workplace Exercise Project – which is on hold pending funding and resource.
For the latest version of the Action Plan at Issue 2 click here.
Equality Action Plan Consultation
Active Gloucestershire wishes to identify and if possible address the factors that cause certain groups to be under-represented. We have our own ideas but to inform this process we conducted a consultation in summer 2007 supported by external equal opportunities data from the recent Active People Survey - a national survey on participation in sport and physical activity. The consultation also included internal data from equal opportunities monitoring of children and young people, staff, board members, coaches and officials.
Equality Resources
Active Gloucestershire has a number of resources such as links to online equality training, Equality Standard briefings and presentations - please click here to contact the Equality Standard Lead Officer, Stuart McQuaid for more information.
