Equal Opportunities

We value the unique experience that every individual can bring to our organisation. What would you expect from an organisation that revolves around helping people to achieve their potential?

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Changing Lives exists to support people facing the most challenging of circumstances to make lasting changes in their lives. We work with people from a diverse range of backgrounds and identities, many of whom experience discrimination - in some cases, it has led to or contributed to their struggles, and in others, they are discriminated against because of their challenging circumstances. Supporting people facing discrimination is a fundamental part of how we work.

We are committed to making Changing Lives an inclusive organisation, which enables all of our employees and everyone who uses our services to reach their full potential, no matter their background. We are listening to people inside and outside of our organisation, challenging ourselves and taking action where we need to, to make sure that our culture is one that feels welcoming, positive and supportive for everyone.

We ask new employees to our organisation to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form. This is anonymous and voluntary, however, the information we ask for goes towards helping us ensure we are an inclusive employer by monitoring diversity in the workplace. We want our services, staff teams and leadership to reflect the communities in which we work so that we have the right mix of skills, knowledge and experience so that we are open and relevant for people who need our services and so that we can help in the most effective and creative ways.

Changing Lives Trans Inclusion Position Statement

Changing Lives believes that everyone deserves the opportunity to reach their potential and live happy and fulfilling lives. An important aspect of this includes people feeling comfortable in their gender identity and sexual orientation. While moving through our Theory of Change, Being, Becoming, Belonging and Beyond, How We Work - Being, Becoming, Belonging & Beyond | Changing Lives (changing-lives.org.uk) exploring sexuality and gender identity might be an important part of an individual’s healing journey.

We recognise the specific discrimination that trans people face. We are committed to trans inclusion within our staff and the people we support and are serious about our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

We work with people experiencing multiple unmet needs, such as homelessness, sexual exploitation, life-threatening addictions, mental and physical health problems, long-term unemployment and poverty, and more. Sadly, trans people are often overrepresented in these populations, but often face additional barriers to accessing services.

We strive for the safety of everyone within our services, using individualised risk assessments and care plans for each person.

Where we are commissioned to provide Domestic Abuse refuge, we aim to provide flexible accommodation options to fit everyone’s needs, where we will maintain single sex refuge whilst at the same time also offering dispersed housing options to ensure no victim of abuse or person in need is excluded.

For our group work we strive towards making each environment safe and gender-responsive, creating a bespoke environment and using material that reflects an understanding of the realities of the lives of everyone.

At Changing Lives, we understand the importance of using the right language in relation to trans and LGBTQIA+ matters. We aim to deliver regular expert training in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I). The training covers inclusive behaviours, language and terminology so that we embed an inclusive culture that embraces diversity.

Changing Lives strive to continue to learn and grow in our understanding of making our services inclusive for all, this statement is the beginning of a learning journey and is part of a bigger piece of work that will explore long-term culture change.

We are committed as an organisation to partner with other services and agencies including local LGBTQIA+ services to ensure support in needs and representing allyship. Local teams and managers are expected to develop relationships with specialist organisations in their own areas where we can develop robust packages of care to trans people.