Equality, Inclusion & Diversity Policy

Statement of intent

Base Camp takes great care to treat everyone as a person in their own right, with equal rights and responsibilities to any other individual, whether they are an adult or a child. Base Camp is committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families according to their individual needs.

Discrimination on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion or belief, marriage or civil partnership, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, ethnic or national origin, or political belief has no place within this setting, as outlined in the Equality Act 2010.

A commitment to implementing our inclusion and diversity policy will form part of each employee's and volunteer's training. Should anyone believe that this policy is not being upheld, it is their duty to report the matter to Hannah Secouet at the earliest opportunity.

Base Camp is committed to

• recruiting and training individuals on the basis of occupational skills requirements, adopting anti-discriminatory practice and procedures
• welcoming, wherever possible, children who may have intellectual, physical and/or hidden disabilities, or are deemed disadvantaged according to their individual circumstances
• striving to promote equal access to services and projects by taking practical steps (wherever possible and reasonable), such as ensuring access for people with additional needs
• including and valuing the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality, inclusion and diversity
• providing positive, non-stereotypical information
• continually improving our knowledge and understanding of issues of equality, inclusion and diversity
• regularly reviewing our policies and procedures to ensure the policy is effective and our activities are non-discriminatory
• making inclusion a thread which runs through the entirety of our practices — for example, by encouraging positive self-image, promoting non-stereotypical images and challenging discriminatory language or behaviour.

Staff and volunteers

It is the policy of our setting not to discriminate in the treatment of individuals. All staff and volunteers are expected to co-operate with the implementation, monitoring and improvement of this and other policies. All Base Camp staff and volunteers are expected to challenge language, actions, behaviours and attitudes which are oppressive or discriminatory on the grounds specified in this policy.

Food

Base Camp works in partnership with government guidelines and parents to ensure the medical, cultural and dietary needs of children are met. Please see the Food Safety & Handling Policy.