Policies


The Queen’s Hills Community Group wants to involve everyone in the Queen’s Hills area and will try to overcome any obstacles to people giving their views, attending or getting involved in meetings and events.  The Group will try to ensure everyone can feel welcome and safe at events they organise.  The Group will challenge any remarks or behaviour that causes offence.
 

 Objective
•   We aim to make our neighbourhood a better place for everyone who lives and works in and is close to the area.

We will listen to what people are saying in our neighbourhood.

When we work with other agencies to improve things, we want to make sure we are speaking for everyone.

This is why we strive to make everyone feel welcome and safe in our Queen’s Hills Community meetings.
Membership shall be open irrespective of nationality, race, age, gender, and disability, political or religious belief. 
All members shall have voting rights.
The Committee may elect to institute an annual subscription fee.
Total Involvement

  
 


The Committee will make every effort to ensure that everybody can get involved by:

•   Publicising all meetings
•   Making sure publicity is put out where people can see or hear it and that it comes in a language they can understand.
•   Choosing meeting places carefully so that as many people as possible can get to the meeting, access facilities, feel comfortable and safe.
•   Offering to provide sign language and community language interpreters for meetings.
•   Standing up against any behaviour or language that may upset or insult people and create an unwelcoming atmosphere.
•   Improving the atmosphere of our area through speaking up on behalf of the victims of harassment.
What we see as offensive behaviour and language.

•   Making jokes about people because of their race, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religion.
•   Making assumptions about people because they belong to a certain group of people e.g.  “All young people, all Asians, all single parents, all white people.....are like that”
•   Describing people in a way that may be seen as an insult or threat.

How we will deal with offensive behaviour and language.
•   We will tell the person in question that we found their behaviour or language unacceptable.
•   No person will be laughed at or victimised for speaking out about what they find offensive, so they feel confident to challenge offensive comments and behaviour.
•   We will expect the person in question to apologise immediately for offensive behaviour or comments.
•   If the person continues behaving in that way and does not apologise for any upset they may have caused, they will be asked to leave the meeting.
•   They will be contacted within one week and given an opportunity to apologise in writing before the next meeting. If the committee decide so, the individual in question can also be asked to do some Equality Training.
•   If they refuse to apologise and/or attend a training course, they will be excluded from all future Queen’s Hills Community Group Committee meetings.

Signed:   Chairperson
   
Signed:   Secretary

This Equality and Diversity Policy will be kept on file on the Group’s website and will be made available to members on request.