Partner Article

Durham charity first for diversity award

A County Durham charity has become the first in the region to gain an Investors in Diversity award.

Social inclusion charity Developing Initiatives Supporting Communities (DISC) has been given the standard by the National Centre for Diversity.

DISC is the second charity in the UK to gain the award, which celebrates positive organisational cultures where everyone is genuinely recognised as different but equal.

The National Centre for Diversity assessor Jan Dominey wrote in her assessment: “DISC struck me as being the nicest organisation I had seen in almost 15 years of this type of work.” She praised DISC for actively managing diversity and challenging staff to think about the way they view people.

Pauline Gill, a skills, employment and training manager in North East England and one of DISC’s diversity champions, said: “Diversity is not about saying that we employ certain types of people, or have installed a certain number extra-wide doors for wheelchair users. It’s about how we get our staff to challenge their thinking, question their views and genuinely accept difference.

“Most of our staff work on a one-to-one basis with people. If they feel negative about someone because of the way they look, talk or dress, it’s more difficult to build up a really positive relationship. Diversity is also not just about us. It’s also about us working with other organisations, and encouraging employers to think more positively about employing people with a history of substance misuse, offending or mental health issues.”

For more about DISC, visit www.disc-vol.org.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .