Equality and diversity

Our equality and diversity strategy sets out our approach to improving equality and diversity for all our staff and residents between 2010 and 2013.

You can read the strategy in full here, and a summary of our objectives here.

If you would like to get involved in equality and diversity at Viridian or have any comments, you please get in touch through equalities@viridianhousing.org.uk

Here at Viridian we are committed to making sure everyone has fair access to our services and are treated with respect.

We have agreed the following equality and diversity statement with our residents:

“We believe that equality and diversity are of fundamental importance to all the work we do.We believe that whatever our age, gender, beliefs, ethnic origin, disability or sexuality, we all deserve to be treated with respect. We treat everyone we house, serve, employ and work with fairly and encourage others to do the same”

Discrimination

Anyone can experience discrimination and this discrimination could be on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, disability, ethnicity, race or skin colour, transgender status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.

We are committed to challenging all forms of discrimination, this includes:

• Direct discrimination: when someone is treating you differently because of their own attitude or prejudice.
• Indirect discrimination: when you face barriers or are excluded because you’re needs have not been accounted for.
• Harassment: when you are being treated with hostility and disrespect by someone because of your identity.
• Victimisation: when you are being unfairly treated because you have made a claim of discrimination.

What you can expect from us

All employees will:

• treat you with dignity and respect
• respect your cultural or religious beliefs when we visit your home
• not use stereotypes or assumptions about who you are
• provide information in the format you prefer.

We will take steps to meet your individual needs by:

• asking you about your communication preferences
• help you arrange aids and adaptations for your home if you have a disability
• giving you information and advice about local services.

We will tackle harassment and discrimination by:

• having a committed anti-social behaviour team who specialise in supporting victims of racism, homophobia, disablism, ageism, sexism, religious hatred and domestic violence; and
• ensuring all tenants know that committing harassment and hate crimes can be cause for eviction.

If you believe you have been discriminated against by any employee at Viridian, or by another resident, speak to any member the employee team or contact us to make a complaint in confidence by email.