Equality and Diversity Policy

Statement of Intent

Shining Life Children's Trust is committed to promoting equality and valuing diversity in all its activities delivering inclusive processes, practices and culture both within our organisation and with our project implementation partner organisations.

Equality Act 2010

Shining Life Children's Trust aims to comply with, and promote the principles of, the Equality Act 2010 at all times. This includes:

• Elimination of all unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the act.

• Advancement of equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

• Fostering of good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

For the purposes of this document a protected characteristic is as defined within the Equalities Act 2010:

• age

• disability

• ethnicity (including race, colour and nationality)

• religion or belief

• gender

• gender reassignment

• sexual orientation

• marriage and civil partnership

• pregnancy and maternity

Our approach

We aim to build and sustain a community which values and respects other people's different background, characteristics, ideas and beliefs. To achieve this our principle of promoting equality and valuing diversity is at the heart of each aspect of our business. These areas include:

• An inclusive Board – we aim for our Trustees to bring a variety of skills, knowledge and experience to the leadership of the organisation.

• Open recruitment process – our recruitment process for a Field Director will be transparent and thorough. We will maximise the circulation of job opportunities to encourage applications from skilled professionals from diverse audiences.

• Field Director competency – working directly with communities in Sri Lanka the ability and desire to celebrate and promote diversity is a core competency for our Field Director. This will be ensured through the selection process, training and day to day management.

• Training and development – through the provision of regular training we will ensure that our Trustees and Field Director are fully aware of their responsibilities under the Equality Act and in the implementation of this policy.

• Working in partnership – in Sri Lanka, Shining Life Children's Trust is working in areas with ethnic and religious tensions, gender inequality and where members experience marginalisation as a result of disability and other protected characteristics. It is therefore paramount that we seek to work with local partner organisations who value diversity and promote equality. Our initial community assessments will identify areas of actual or potential inequality and throughout the lifetime of our projects we will ensure our partners are positively working to overcome inequalities. Equality and diversity monitoring and reporting is a central part of our our project management approach.

• Supporting our donors – we recognise that we have a wide and diverse donor base and will provide materials and information to them through a variety of events, media and formats that supports and encourages this diversity.

Achieving our vision

The action we take to achieve this vision and ensure this approach is delivered is vital. Shining Life Children's Trust will do this through our Diversity Action Plan, that identifies key equality goals to be achieved. The responsible officer for the action plan is the Secretary and the plan is formally reviewed every 6 months by all Trustees at a Trust Board meeting.