Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust (WWSET), the official charity of Wycombe Wanderers FC, are pleased to launch our Equality Action Plan for 2021-22.
The action plan has been created by the WWSET EqualiTeam which was formed in March 2021 when we recognised that we needed to be more proactive in demonstrating our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) throughout the charity.
The WWSET EqualiTeam, which has representation from all levels of the organisation, exists in order to ensure that our ED&I statement is prioritised within our day-to-day operations and decision making processes. Our ED&I Statement reads:
WWSET is committed to creating a culture that has equality, diversity and inclusion at its core. We celebrate and value people’s differences and will always strive to learn and develop when it comes to ED&I matters. By doing this we hope to continually ignite understanding, opportunities, respect, empowerment and allyship within our work place and wider community.
Upon the launch of the Equality Action Plan, Head of WWSET Paul Foley commented:
“I’m delighted that WWSET have launched our first ED&I Action Plan. WWSET are a community organisation and if we are going to meet local need and achieve positive outcomes for the people we serve we need to be as equitable, diverse and inclusive as we possibly can be. By committing to the measurable objectives contained within our Action Plan, we’ll hopefully achieve our goal of championing ED&I at every opportunity and to making long-term tangible progress in this area.
Finally, I’d like to say how fantastic it’s been to see how passionately and collaboratively the EqualiTeam have worked since their formation, and on behalf of the charity as a whole I’d like to place on record my thanks to them for all their efforts and commitment, and for educating all our team members on ED&I matters so well over recent months.”
The list below shows the main four headlines included within the WWSET Action Plan as well as the associated objectives that the EqualiTeam has set, all of which will all be measured and reported against throughout the time period involved.
OUR PEOPLE
· Increase the diversity of the WWSET Board of Trustees to ensure they are representative of our local community
· Ensure all WWSET’s recruitment adverts specifically stipulate that WWSET welcome applications from candidates regardless of protected characteristics
· Ensure all WWSET’s job adverts are promoted where they will be easily seen by those from minority groups and/or those under-represented within our workforce
· Increase WWSET’s EDI related training offering to staff at all levels (including Trustees)
· Ensure the long term sustainable existence of the WWSET EqualiTeam
· Ensure all legally required EDI related policies and/or procedures are in place
· Ensure English Football League EDI Forum participation
· Become a Disability Confident employer
OUR COMMUNICATION
· Ensure advertising images/photographs used by WWSET are representative of our local community
· Add an EDI page on the WWSET website which outlines our commitment to equality, diversity & inclusion, and includes access to the WWSET EDI Action Plan
· Alter WWSET email signatures to include pronouns and educate staff on the meaning and importance of doing so
· Include EDI objectives in future WWSET strategies
· Include EDI achievements in future WWSET Annual Reports
· Advertise projects in languages other than English when required in order to maximise engagement/participation
OUR PROGRAMMES
· Support national initiatives related to ED&I (…for example Rainbow Laces, Black History Month, SRtRC, International Women’s Day, Disability Awareness Week, Trans Visibility Day, Football V Homophobia Month)
· Learn more about ED&I related barriers to participation/engagement and positively act upon said learning to increase local outcomes/impact
· Increase the number of WWSET activities being delivered which specifically seek to engage those who are traditionally under-represented in terms of participation
OUR DATA, MONITORING & EVALUATION
· Research local statistics related to ED&I demographics to establish benchmarks for WWSET related operations/activities
· Capture EDI related participant data in order to demonstrate levels of engagement across activities
· Undertake an annual ED&I Engagement Audit and produce an associated Engagement Report for publication
