Young Gloucestershire’s ED and I journey

At YG, change is being driven not just by policies or plans, but by people. Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champions are a passionate group of staff who’ve stepped forward to make sure YG is a place where everyone: young people their families, staff, and volunteers feel they belong.

The champions aren’t just ticking boxes. They’re sparking conversations, challenging habits, increasing awareness and finding practical ways to support our work and the people we work with.

The EDI Champions came together in early 2024, drawn from all corners of YG. They meet regularly, bringing different perspectives, experiences, and lived realities to the table. Their mission? To make YG’s culture as diverse and inclusive as the young people and families we work with focusing on the following four key priorities:

• Environment & Culture – making YG a safe, welcoming, and inclusive workplace.
• Recruitment – ensuring our workforce reflects the young people and families we work with
• Communications – making sure our messages are clear, accessible, and inclusive.
• Service Delivery – reaching more young people in underrepresented communities

One champion summed it up at a recent meeting, “It’s about making sure no one feels like an outsider, whether that’s a young person walking into one of our projects, or a colleague stepping into the office for the first time.”

The Champions also recognise how important it is for the people we work with to see themselves reflected in the staff team. That’s why they’ve been reviewing recruitment practices with a fresh eye ensuring job descriptions use inclusive language, ask for the key requirements for the role and not over and above, as well as thinking carefully about where roles are advertised, to maximise our reach to people from all backgrounds. They have developed mechanisms to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experience within the workforce of YG and how this can be both supported and valued throughout the organisation.

Most importantly, the work of the Champions is helping us reach young people and families who might not have connected with YG before. Whether that’s through partnerships with other VCSE organisations, celebrating cultural diversity, or simply being more visible in communities where YG hasn’t had a strong presence, our message is clear: YG is here for every young person and their family in Gloucestershire.

There’s still so much to do. The Champions are already planning more staff training on unconscious bias, developing new outreach strategies, and building partnerships that will strengthen our connections with communities across the county. So watch this space for updates as we continue to progress through our ED and I journey.