In October 2022 East Cheshire Hospice was awarded the Navajo Charter Mark.
The Navajo Charter Mark is an equality mark supported by LGBTIQA+ Community networks across Merseyside. It is a signifier of good practice, commitment and knowledge of the specific needs, issues and barriers facing LGBTIQA+ people.
How did we achieve this?
To be awarded the Navajo Charter Mark, an organisation must successfully pass a two stage assessment process.
First, East Cheshire Hospice needed to submit an initial written application and action plan. This application process was designed to assess how accessible and friendly our organisation is across five distinct elements:
- Practices and Policies
- Training
- Staff Recruitment & Engagement
- Monitoring
- Service Users and LGBT Engagement
Once the application, action plan and evidence were reviewed by the Navajo assessors, we were informed we were successfully moving onto stage two of the application process.
Stage two of the process included a day-long assessment whereby eleven members of our staff were interviewed by the Navajo assessing panel. Staff from various teams, in a variety of roles from across the organisation were interviewed.
Once the Charter Mark has be awarded, the Navajo team reassesses each organisation two years later to ensure the positive work they are doing is continued and meaningful.
What does this mean for the Hospice?
Achieving the Charter Mark means that East Cheshire Hospice has demonstrated that we:-
- Identify innovative new ways of working to meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people.
- Promote best practice in engaging with the LGBTQ+ community.
- Understand the importance of and are active in ensuring staff are trained and confident in tackling the barriers LGBTQ+ people may face accessing services.
- Recognise and work hard to address the difficulties that our organisation may face in addressing the needs of the LGBTQ+ community.
- Raise awareness among staff with regard to the particular issues that affect LGBTQ+ people in accessing our services.
- Raise awareness of the particular issues in addressing the needs of our LGBTQ+ employees through good management practice
The hard work is not over yet. East Cheshire Hospice will continue to be active in taking positive steps to remove barriers to care for LGBTQ+ people. We will be reassessed by Navajo in 2024.
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