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Diversity

Why do diversity and equality matter?

Our main aim is to make sure that you enjoy living in your council home.

Ascham Homes is committed to ensuring that all sections of the community receive a fair and equal service, according to individual needs, and that our staff and board reflect the people we serve.’ Ascham Homes Equality and Diversity Policy

As with the rest of society, our customers are all different. We differ in age, ethnic background, faith, sexuality, state of health or disability, the written or spoken languages we understand best, being male or female, and so on. These can lead to people or institutions treating us differently in ways that are neither necessary nor helpful.

Together, these differences make up the ‘diversity’ of the community, and help to make it such an interesting and vibrant place to live. But they can also lead to some people finding it harder to use services than others.

We are committed to being sensitive to people’s backgrounds and circumstances, and to shaping the way we plan and deliver services. We want to make sure that no-one receives unequal treatment, whatever the cause.

We are also firmly committed to helping the council make Waltham Forest a place where we can all:

feel safe and secure
enjoy equality and success
live in a happy, thriving neighbourhood
have a sense of belonging and feel included, and
lead active lives in a vibrant borough.

As an employer, we must make sure that no-one is disadvantaged or discriminated against because of their background or individual circumstances. Our board and staff should also reflect the diversity of the Waltham Forest community. We must support the local economy by allowing all local people to apply for jobs with us and with our partners.

Diversity group

Set up in 2005, the diversity group is dedicated to identifying and removing any barriers you may face in:

getting access to the company’s services
benefiting from those services
accessing employment or career development opportunities with the company or its partners, and
being able to share equally in Waltham Forest Council’s community vision for its citizens.

Equality themes

We are committed to understanding and tackling the inequalities that can arise under the following six areas

ethnic background
religion
age
state of health, or ability or disability
gender (male or female)
sexuality

We recognise that there may be other reasons why you are not receiving equal treatment or as good a housing experience as others. We will listen to you so that you can tell us about areas where there is still unequal treatment and give us ideas for ways to put things right.

Diversity and Equality aims

The diversity group will identify targets for the company to achieve to make real and positive changes.

Some of these will be ‘outcome-based’ targets to measure how well we are progressing towards equality. Others will be about developing the way we work, so that we can be more sensitive and responsive to your needs.

We will devlop each target in consultation with our tenants, particularly those who will benefit the most.

Making diversity and equality an essential part of the service

To make sure that our aims are identified and delivered, the group will also co-ordinate changes to the way we plan our activities and the way we work.

We have voluntarily adopted the Equalities Standard for Local Government. This is a framework that guides organisations so that they can develop in ways that will help them make the right changes. It is also a way of testing our progress which we can then report back to you.