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Equality, diversity and inclusion statement

Equality, diversity, inclusion and social justice are values which are fundamental to Youth Music’s ambition to achieve a Musically Inclusive England and sit at the core of our organisational processes, practices and culture.

Youth Music is an equal opportunities and Living Wage employer. We are committed to attracting and recruiting diverse candidates as it’s important that our trustees, staff, ambassadors and volunteers reflect the communities we serve at every level within the organisation.

  • We will strive to eliminate any unlawful or unfair discrimination including direct or indirect discrimination, discrimination by association, discrimination linked to a perceived characteristic, harassment and victimisation.
  • We will remain proactive in taking steps to ensure inclusion and engagement for all the people who work for and with us. 
  • We will continue to strive towards a culture that is diverse and inclusive that recognises and develops the potential of all.
  • We recognise the business benefits and opportunities of having a diverse community of staff, who value one another and realising the contribution they can make to achieving Youth Music’s vision.

The Equality Act 2010 provides the legislative framework that informs our work to promote equality of opportunity and reduce barriers to engagement, in particular for protected groups including:

  • age*
  • disability*
  • ethnicity (including race, colour and nationality)*
  • gender*
  • gender reassignment*
  • religion or belief*
  • sexual orientation*
  • marriage and civil partnership*
  • pregnancy and maternity*
  • refugees and asylum seekers
  • people who are neuro-divergent
  • ex-offenders

*Under the Equality Act (2010) these are known as “protected characteristics”.

Achieving action

We have an Equality*, Diversity* & Inclusion* plan, which sets out how we plan to use our national reach and profile to model best practice within our communications, fundraising, workforce and governance as well as influencing others in their practices through our grants criteria and sector support role. We also operate an anonymised recruitment process to eliminate unconscious bias.
 
*We define this as:

Equality – we believe in equality for all people. However, society is not equal, and for this reason we adopt an equitable, approach to give support to those who need it most. 
 
Diversity – we take active steps to ensure that our workforce and those we support through are work are represented, included and respected, whatever their gender, ethnicity, race, religious and political beliefs, education, socioeconomic background, disability, sexual orientation and geographic location.
 
Inclusion – we are committed to ensuring everyone feels welcome, no one feels uncomfortable and everyone is able to thrive and contribute equally regardless of who they are, where they’re from, or what they’re going through. 

The action plan is assessed and reviewed on a six-monthly basis internally and the results published annually.

What this means for staff

People who work at Youth Music are integral to making our vision of equality and diversity a reality. This includes:

  • Playing an active role in our monthly values committee sessions.
  • Taking part in in-house and external training programmes to develop awareness, knowledges and skills to better meet everyone’s needs. 
  • Reading and committing to Youth Music’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion statement and Equality Action Plan.
  • Creating, participating in and promoting network groups to add value to our equality and diversity practice.
  • Making a commitment to be involved and become a diversity champion.