Our Policies at Woodland Ways Equality and Inclusion at Woodland Ways 1 Diversity and inclusion statement We value the range of different people in Moreton Hall, the part of Bury St Edmunds in which Woodland Ways is active, but recognise some people can be disadvantaged and discriminated against as a member or as a service user.  We are committed to developing policies to tackle inequality and exclusion, by ensuring services are accessible and our practices fair. We want to make sure people are not discriminated against for any reason, including their disability, gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, faith, beliefs, culture, nationality, age, sexuality, family circumstances, socio-economic status.  This list is not complete and there are other forms of discrimination, which we will not tolerate.  We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. 2. Social inclusion is about enabling people to take part in society on equal terms with others.  This can be achieved in a number of ways and could mean improving a person's access to Woodland Ways' activities and services. We will: use our influence to promote understanding and harmony between people, working whenever possible in partnership with other organisations; seek to eliminate any discrimination and harassment that might occur, achieve and demonstrate high standards of good equality practice 3 Scope Our policy explains your rights and responsibilities, whether as a: user of our services and visitor to our sites; trustee volunteer 4 How will we meet our commitments? We will ensure that: we take a positive approach to making our services, woodlands and information accessible to all; appropriate training will be available to trustees in order that they will have the competence necessary for translating this policy into positive action; we comply with all our statutory and equality standard requirements; our trustees and volunteers are treated with dignity, fairness and respect;  we prevent harassment and bullying at Woodland Ways activities and any person who feels that he or she has been subjected to such harassment may complain; we always encourage and welcome comments and complaints in order that our services continue to improve.   5 Our standards Some of our standards are applicable to all areas of diversity and inclusion (general), whilst others are specific to social exclusion, race, disability, gender, religion & religious belief, sexual orientation & gender reassignment, and age a General We want to ensure that: we work with local people and in partnership with other organisations to improve the environment and therefore quality of life of the people of Moreton Hall now and for the future we are committed to providing fair and equal access, especially for those who feel excluded and/or are disadvantaged; we aim to have no unlawful discrimination on the grounds of race, sex and disability; everyone who comes into contact with Woodland Ways trustees and volunteers is treated in an open and respectful manner;  trustees and volunteers are also entitled to fair treatment, dignity and respect; we will deliver our services in as inclusive and fair a way as possible, without discrimination, prejudice or bias; information about services is made available to the public in a form which they can access and understand; all people who receive our services are actively encouraged to comment on the way they perceive them to be delivered; We will respond to all complaints and in particular approach in a positive manner any that relate to practices that suggest unfairness, discrimination and lack of access; b Race We will not tolerate harassment of trustees, service users or volunteers for reasons of a person's race, ethnic origin, nationality or national origin. c Disability The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 states that a person has a disability "if he/she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her normal day to day activities".  The definition covers a wide range of physical, sensory and learning disabilities, as well as mental health problems.  In our society, non-disabled people have traditionally been in a position of greater power.  Unhelpful attitudes have stemmed from ideas of perceived superiority of non-disabled people.  We believe in a society where all people are equal, whether they have a disability or not. We will aim to identify and if necessary make changes to any policies and practices that disadvantage people with disabilities in receiving our services or taking part in Woodland Ways' activities or meetings; We will not tolerate harassment of employees, service users or volunteers for reasons of a disability. d Gender : we will not treat a person less favourably than another on the grounds that he or she intends to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment; and : we will not tolerate harassment of employees, service users or volunteers for reasons of their gender or gender re-assignment. e Social inclusion The Government defines social exclusion as: "A shorthand term for what can happen when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family breakdown." :  Social inclusion is the process of seeking to ensure that everybody is empowered to participate in society on equal terms. Poverty is a key element, but social exclusion can also be associated with one or more of the following: ▪ family conflict; ▪ being in care; ▪ being an ex-offender or having a criminal conviction; ▪ being from a minority ethnic group; ▪ speaking a language other than English; ▪ living in a rural area; ▪ being gay, lesbian or bisexual; ▪ living in a deprived neighbourhood; ▪ homeless people;    ▪ having a disability; ▪ having undergone gender re-assignment; ▪ teenage mothers; ▪ young people who run away from home; ▪ families with low incomes; ▪ children who have suffered family conflict; ▪ older people; ▪ people who are long-term unemployed ▪ those who misuse alcohol, harmful substances and drugs; and ▪ children who are excluded from school. f Religion, culture or belief Discrimination on the grounds of religion, faith, culture or belief may occur because of commonly held assumptions about a particular religion, custom or because of a lack of understanding of prayer, dietary or other requirements. We are committed to ensuring that no trustee or volunteer receives less or more favourable treatment on the grounds of their religion, faith, culture or belief.  This commitment extends to a person's allegiance to a society or association as long as such a membership does not conflict with our corporate activities. We will not tolerate harassment of employees, service users or volunteers for reasons of their religion, faith, culture or belief. g Sexual orientation A person's sexual orientation has no bearing whatsoever on their ability or suitability to participate in Woodland Ways.  No volunteer or trustee will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds that they are gay, lesbian or bisexual.  We will not tolerate harassment of trustees, service users or volunteers for reasons of their sexual orientation. h Age Discrimination on the grounds of age usually arises because of assumptions made about a person's value and abilities because of their age.  For example older people can be stereotyped as having outdated ideas and being inflexible with regard to change.  Young people are sometimes treated as though their views are unimportant because it is thought they lack experience, maturity or commitment. We are committed to the following: : age alone is not used as a basis on which service priorities are decided; : we ensure that consultation involves people across the age ranges; : no trustee or volunteer receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, : We will not tolerate harassment of employees, service users or volunteers for reasons of their age. i Caring responsibilities In society today, women are particularly affected by having responsibilities outside work, which may impact on their work.  However, it should also be recognised that men also have such responsibilities.  We will not tolerate discrimination on the grounds of caring responsibilities. 6 Service delivery We are committed to providing high-quality services which meet the needs of, and are available to, all our residents.  People who use our services should not face discrimination or harassment. Trustees, volunteers and any other people providing our services are also entitled to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect.  We will not tolerate discrimination against or harassment of service users and service providers.  We will aim to: provide appropriate, accessible and effective services and facilities to all sections of the community without prejudice or bias; consult with and include all sections of the community in order to improve the way we deliver our services; identify those people within the community whose individual needs are less well met than those of other people;  monitor and review all our services to make sure that they do not discriminate;  make changes to our services that will lead to improvement in their delivery; provide clear information about our services, and to make this information available in the formats and languages needed by our citizens or residents, and to adhere to our standards for the accessibility of information; celebrate cultural diversity; work with others to provide an environment free from harassment, violence and crime; and welcome customer feedback, endeavour to put things right and resolve to use what we learn to improve future service provision. a Public involvement Consultation has an important role to play to help us implement improvements in the services we provide.  Through public involvement we can assess the likely effects of proposed policies before they are introduced.  We therefore need to consult with people who are likely to be affected by our policies. b    Access to information and services We recognise the importance of effectively communicating with our service users.  For this reason we are committed to making information about our services accessible by using Plain English (language that is easily understood); We will continue working towards providing the public with as much information as possible.  This policy makes us more accountable and in the process raises our profile in the community we serve. c    Complaints procedure Comments and complaints can be made by phone, in person or in writing.  We will try to put matters right and improve things for the future.  A trustee will investigate the complaint.  If the complainant remains unhappy with the response, the whole trustees meeting will investigate. 7 Responsibilities for diversity, inclusion and sanctions All trustees have a responsibility for working towards equality and inclusion and for implementation of this policy.  The following actions by trustees may be regarded as infringements: Discriminating against fellow trustees or volunteers on grounds that cannot be justified Persuading, or trying to persuade, other people to discriminate unfairly Harassment or bullying Victimising individuals who have made allegations about discrimination or who have provided information about such discrimination. Such matters will be addressed by the steering group. Acknowledgement This policy is based on the Suffolk County Council policy for Equality. EDUCATION POLICY Education for sustainable development through local action and global awareness Our education work has an overall aim: to provide education for sustainable living through local action and global citizenship. It draws upon 4 years of first hand experience in school workshops and growing our own community woodland. Our aim is accompanied by 3 objectives: To offer programmes to as diverse a range of people as possible  To combine both inspirational and pragmatic elements in all our work  To define education in life-long terms We aspire to achieve our objectives in two ways: 1. through the delivery of a curriculum-linked programme for primary age children, inspiring them, providing understanding and showing them that their actions really do make a difference. 2. through offering inspiration, training and support to our community.  This can involve people of any age. Our work is a combination of 'hands clean' and 'hands dirty' activities. Professional Development We are also committed to professional development within our own team of trustees and other volunteers and regularly make available training opportunities to develop our own skills. Progress so far  We have provided a programme of tree planting in winter followed by subsequent tree maintenance in summer, for four successive year-4 groups (60 children each year) at Sebert Wood Community Primary School.  Each event consists of inside presentations, stories and interactive teaching sessions, followed by a walk to Natterer's Wood for the children to plant or maintain young trees themselves.  The earlier events were led by Green Light Trust with Woodland Ways making a small contribution.  Woodland Ways' confidence and experience has now increased and the latest events for the most recent year-group was entirely planned and run by Woodland Ways. We have provided occasional public activities for people to learn about the wildlife within their own housing estate.  Subjects have included bats and pond-dipping.  We have provided public events for people to visit habitats elsewhere in Suffolk that they may not have experienced, including ancient woodland, species-rich hay meadow, and fen. Our trustees and members have attended courses on invertebrate conservation and fund-raising, as well as Learning and Development days provided by Green Light Trust covering a range of relevant subjects. Future expansion  We would like to expand the school programme to the other schools within reasonable walking distance of Natterer's Wood, which are a new primary school opening soon (name not yet known), Moreton Hall Preparatory School, and The Priory special school.  The current barrier to expansion is the workload of organising and running presentations; volunteer effort can only manage a programme of events with one school.  We do not wish to break links with the current school so need to find other ways of reaching the other schools; using a group such as Green Light Trust (with a cost) would achieve this. Acknowledgement: This policy was formed with the help of Green Light Trust. Woodland Ways 2005 Our Complaints Policy Our policy is to welcome all complaints, to investigate them fully and resolve them wherever possible. 2    The definition of a complaint A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction, whether justified or not, about Woodland Ways' policy or actions. A complaint can be received verbally, by phone, by email or in writing.  It can be from outside Woodland Ways or from a member or trustee. Complaints arrangements do not cover:  requests for information or explanation of policy and practice; matters for which there is a separate procedure, for example, Borough Council determination of our planning applications. 3    Why we have a complaints procedure Complaints, if handled properly, can lead to better working relationships with our partners and customers.  To help achieve this, our complaints procedure lets people know that they can complain; that we will consider their concerns fairly and objectively; and that, where possible, we will resolve them.  Complaints are also a form of market research.  They can tell us where we are meeting our objectives, if our objectives are appropriate, whether there are areas where we have no objectives but where it might be appropriate to have some, or where we need to change the way we work more generally. 4    Monitoring and learning from complaints So as to learn from complaints and to show that we are following these procedures we need to record complaints, which we do in a complaints log kept by the Secretary.  At the end of each financial year this information is analysed, summarised and presented to the Steering Group along with recommendations if appropriate.  As the volume of complaints is low this annual reporting is considered appropriate. The Steering Group wants to be assured that trustees are using the complaints procedure and are dealing with complaints received in a fair and professional way.  The Steering Group is also looking for trends in the nature of complaints received.  Are we having difficulties with a particular group of external contacts?  Is there a need for us to change the way we operate in a particular area of our work?  And if the answer to any of these questions is "yes", are we taking the necessary action? Any complaints of wide interest to our members will be discussed at our AGM, or if necessary at an EGM, so members can advise the trustees on the appropriate course of action. 5    Who handles complaints Our complaints procedure has four steps - three internal and one external. The intention is that most complaints will be resolved at stage one and the rest at stage two. Stage one    In most cases the complaint should be resolved by the individual responsible for the area of work being complained about. Stage two    If the complainant feels that the problem has not been satisfactorily resolved, they can contact the Chair. Stage three    If the complainant is still unhappy with Woodland Ways' response they can ask for the complaint to be discussed at the next trustees meeting.  The trustees may at their discretion discuss the complaint at the next AGM or at an EGM. Stage four    If the complainant is still unhappy with Woodland Ways' response they can ask Green Light Trust, to which Woodland Ways is affiliated, to investigate and advise both parties. External Stage     The complainant can complain to the Charity Commission at any stage. 6    Getting the complaint to the right person in Woodland Ways Complaints made in writing should be passed to the relevant person identified in the previous table.  Complaints made by telephone or through personal contact can be received at a number of points, sometimes far removed from the 'source' of the complaint.  In these cases the recipient of the complaint should: note the facts of the complaint;  take the complainant's name, address and telephone number; tell the complainant that we have a complaints procedure; tell the complainant what will happen next; complete the first four sections of the complaints monitoring form;  pass this information on to the relevant person within one working week. 7    Timetable Complaints must be acknowledged by the person handling the complaint within a week.  The acknowledgement should say who is dealing with the complaint and when the person complaining can expect a reply.  A copy of our complaints procedure should be attached. To meet our standards, complainants should receive a definitive reply within four weeks.  If this is not possible because for example, an investigation has not been fully completed, a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given. 8    Replying to the complaint (stage 1) Whether the complaint is justified or not the reply to the complainant should describe the action take to investigate the complaint, the conclusions from the investigation, and any action taken as a result of the complaint. All replies should set out the procedure to be followed if the complainant is unhappy with Woodland Ways' response. Remedies If the complaint is found to be justified consider what can be done to re-establish goodwill. What is appropriate will vary from case to case.  Do Apologise (don't be grudging); Explain what has been done to investigate the complaint, the findings, and what action has been taken as a result.  This could include: - putting right what has gone wrong; - an assurance that the situation will be put right; - a change in procedures; - an assurance that this will not happen again; - to them or anyone else. You could also consider: a visit from a trustee;  a gesture of goodwill e.g. offer a guided tour on a woodland 8.1    Recording complaints The complaints record should be completed. 9    Stage two complaints - complaints that are taken further Should the complainant decide to take matters further and contact the Chair, that individual should: Acknowledge receipt of the request within five working days of receiving it.  The acknowledgement should confirm that the Chair will deal with the case and say when the complainant can expect a reply.  Complainants should receive a reply within 20 working days.  If this is not possible a progress report should be sent with an indication of when a full reply will be given; Keep the person who dealt with the original complaint, at stage one, informed of what is happening; Investigate the facts of the case.  This may involve reviewing the paperwork of the case and speaking with the person who dealt with the complaint at stage one.  9.1        Replying to the complainant (Stage two complaints) The procedure is very similar to stage 1 complaints. The reply should describe what has been done to investigate the complaint, the conclusions drawn from the investigation, and the action taken as a result of the investigation. Should the Chair disagree with the findings of the original investigation the letter of reply should say so.  Woodland Ways should apologise and where possible say what is being done to ensure that the problem does not happen again. All replies should set out the procedure to follow if the complainant is unhappy with Woodland Ways' response i.e. give them the name and contact details of the person in accordance with Stage 3 of the process. 9.2    Recording Stage two complaints The action taken needs to be recorded in the complaints log held by the team where the complaint originated. 10    Stage three complaints Repeat steps under stage two complaints.  Whatever the outcome the reply should set out the process for taking the complaint further, i.e. if the complainant does not feel that the issue has been resolved satisfactorily they may ask for advice from Green Light Trust (The Foundry, Bury Road, Lawshall, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP29 4PJ, tel 01284 830829; website address: www.greenlighttrust.org). 10.1    Recording Stage three complaints Stage three complaints need to be recorded on the complaints monitoring form and linked with the stage one and two records.  Three records should be kept in the team where the complaint originated. 11    Guidelines for handling complaints about the Chair or trustees Woodland Ways must take complaints about the Chair or trustees seriously and ensure they are properly investigated in a fair and open way. 12    Who handles complaints about the Chair or Trustees If the complaint is about the Chair, the vice-Chair (or if the vice Chair is not available, the Secretary or Treasurer) will manage the complaint through the four stages as set out above, in place of the Chair. If the complaint is about the trustees generally, the Chair will manage the complaint through the four stages with the expectation that Green Light Trust will be asked to advise.  These stages must be expedited swiftly so that there is no suspicion that the trustees are failing to deal with a complaint about themselves. 13    Keeping a balance Woodland Ways does not receive many complaints, so this policy needs to be seen in that context.  There may be times when someone does not want to go as far as to make a complaint but they do have suggestions or comments about how things could be done better.  Woodland Ways will be receptive to these and act upon them where possible. 14    Complaining to the Charity Commission. The following text in italics is from the Charity Commission's website, and explains their policy for accepting complaints about charities. We will look into complaints against charities: where concerns are expressed about serious mismanagement, for example involving a failure to observe the requirements of charity law; and where there is harm, or the risk of harm, and the use of the Commission's powers is proportionate to it; or where there is clear evidence of deliberate abuse. The Commission will not investigate every type of complaint involving a charity. We will not do so: where the complainant is simply disagreeing with a decision which the charity, as a free and independent body, has taken within the law and the powers in its constitution; to resolve internal disagreements over a charity's policy or strategy which those involved should be responsible for resolving themselves;  to take up individual complaints of poor service from a charity where there is no general risk to its services, its clients or its resources; or  where the compliant is being dealt with, or is the responsibility of, another statutory or supervisory body. We think of harm as: detrimental effects on the people or causes the charity serves; loss or misuse of significant assets or resources; damage to the public reputation of a charity or charities generally; and damage to public confidence in charity regulation. People are free to complain to the Charity Commission at any time about Woodland Ways' charitable activities.  However, Woodland Ways would prefer the opportunity to resolve issues with the complainant beforehand, as many complaints can be resolved without the need to involve the Charity Commission. If you would like to joinWoodland Ways our membership form isavailable here. Free copy here