Equality and Diversity
We believe that diversity strengthens our community and enriches our service. Bluesci is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment for everyone, regardless of ethnicity, background, sexuality, gender, or ability. To ensure we meet the needs of all individuals who come through our doors, we launched a project of work in August 2024 to celebrate the things we do well and recognise the areas in which we can improve and develop. The work will make our services more accessible, equitable, and supportive for everyone.
This page will document the progress made during the project and beyond. By embracing diversity and continually evolving, we aim to create a space where everyone feels valued, respected, and able to thrive.
November 2025
Over the last eight months, we have undertaken work following the results of our Cultural Competence Survey. This has focused on a number of key areas:
Updates To Our Website
We have made our website more accessible for users, adding a translation service so people can translate website text into 16 different languages. We have also included an accessibility feature which allows website users to change text size, fonts and colours. This is helpful for people who require text to be displayed in specific ways.
Staff Training
A major part of feedback in our internal survey with staff and volunteers was the desire for increased training around equality and diversity. Over the past few months, we have offered a range of training for staff and volunteers:
All staff have undertaken a digital Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training course. All staff are currently attending an in-person training with the Cultural Wellbeing Project: Mental Health and Culture Competence Training.
All Service Managers are undertaking leadership specific training in the following areas: equality at work, neurodiversity, and understanding the menopause.
March 2025
We have been working to analyse the results of our internal and public surveys. You can view the summary report here: Bluesci Cultural Competence Surveys 2024 Summary Report. The report highlights key findings of the surveys as well as outlines our next steps as an organisation.
December 2024
During November and early December 2024, we surveyed people who visit our service as well as the public to understand their experiences of Bluesci’s response to diversity. The surveys were available both online and in Bluesci centres and included questions about people’s experience of visiting our centres, working with the team, considering how we communicate, provide services and ensuring awareness of different cultures.
Work has begun to create an audit tool for the organisation to use, focusing: organisational values, governance, evaluation of services, staff development, organisational infrastructure and interventions. The audit tool will allow Bluesci to assess where we are currently meeting the needs of diverse communities and create an action plan of how to improve and develop moving forward.
September 2024
From August to September 2024, we surveyed staff and volunteers in Bluesci to understand their experience of the organisation’s approach to diversity. Overall, there were 51 responses to the survey, which asked about the team’s own attitudes to diverse cultures and opinion’s of the organisation’s policies and procedures. Team members also gave a number of ways they felt Bluesci can increase our responsiveness to people of all cultures.
The survey outcomes are being analysed currently, and will be combined with information gained from a public survey that will be distributed between November and December 2024. The results will be used to inform a project plan moving forward in conjunction with a Cultural Competence framework, and surveys will be completed again in 12 month’s time to measure change.
