People & Planet
We are incredibly proud of the way our staff and volunteers have worked together to navigate a challenging operating environment in 2022-23. Our people are at the heart of everything we do and are integral to the support provided to our communities.
The loyalty of our workforce and their willingness to go the extra mile sustained the Charity during the COVID-19 pandemic and we continue to benefit from this unerring commitment to deliver the Charity’s goals. It is through our people’s dedication and creative thinking that we continue to develop solutions to today’s challenges.
Over the course of four decades, Sue has traversed the Northwest working with young people from a range of diverse backgrounds. Her dedication and genuine passion for empowering these young minds have left an indelible mark on their lives.
Sue’s passion for helping young people discover their true selves is palpable in every interaction she has had over the years. Her dedication goes beyond the confines of a job; it reflects her genuine love for making a difference in the lives of those she encounters.
Sue has been a beacon of light, guiding our young learners through their challenges, and inspiring them to embrace their strengths and passions. Her tireless efforts have not only enabled our learners to develop and grow but have also provided them with the tools and knowledge needed to lead fulfilling, meaningful lives.
Wellbeing is core to Central YMCA’s purpose and values. There is no denying that broader societal and sector related challenges have put huge pressures on our workforce and therefore the focus in 2022-23 was to ensure that our people are equipped and supported to manage these pressures.
Learning & Development
Meaningful work & shared goals
Pay and benefits
Employee engagement activities including Executive Team roadshows, staff forums, and employee voice surveys, have all had a focus on wellbeing and work-life balance to help us understand current challenges and provide additional support where required.
During this period, we expanded the support services provided by our employee assistance programme, however with a firm belief that prevention is better than cure. We have therefore also provided a wellbeing programme to support healthy working practices.
Following the launch of our Mental Health Forum in 2021, we trained nine mental health champions to support employees and promote a workplace culture where staff are free to discuss mental health issues openly and feel supported by their colleagues when they do so. As part of the Forum, we have undertaken the following activities:
offering to include free counselling sessions available to all employees and their immediate family, 24/7 managerial emotional support for line managers, and the Active Care service for employees who are off sick due to poor mental health.
as part of our induction, regular 1:1 check-ins, and performance review conversations.
In 2021 the Charity developed a new set of values to underpin the work that we do. In 2022-23, as part of our broader business transformation programme, we reflected on these values to ensure that they continued to drive the Charity forward and encourage the behaviours needed to support our internal people and our external communities.As a result of this period of reflection, we developed a new value ‘empower’ to emphasise the work we do internally and with our external stakeholders to support the achievement of personal goals. We have also introduced new Values Champions, individuals across the Charity who will play a crucial role in transforming our organisational culture and ensuring that our values become a living, breathing part of everything we do.
Looking forward, our Values Champions will agree key areas of priority each year, aligned to wider staff feedback as part of our employee voice surveys. They will also be supported by a learning and development plan to help them undertake this important role.
Equity - Everyone on the course seems to get lots of chances to learn the best way they can"
Brave - has helped me understand it's okay to take risks and be brave about it cause even though you might fail you still tried which is a brave thing to do"
I am encouraged to complete some of my work in creative ways because I like art"
We nurture people to succeed - my tutor has been a very good tutor and has explained everything clearly to me which will allow me to excel within my course"
Learning and development is integral to everything we do, and we continue to develop organisational skills and capabilities to help our people deliver our charitable purpose. In addition to providing core learning and development activities to support the Charity’s work, we respond to skills gaps at organisational, operational and team levels and have worked to address these through training, coaching and mentorship.
Specific attention has been given to the continued professional development (CPD) of our education and training staff so that they can continue to provide high quality teaching, learning, and assessment.
Looking forward, in 2023-24 we will have greater focus on creating strategically aligned learning and development programmes that positively impact talent attraction, staff retention and productivity,alongside expanding mentoring and coaching opportunities across the charity.
We take our responsibilities for safeguarding extremely seriously and believe that everyone has the right to protection from harm, abuse, and exploitation. We are dedicated to protecting those participating on our programmes and ensuring our people have the skills to identify and raise concerns.
In 2022-23 we saw a reduction in reports to our Safeguarding Team against the prior year (53, against 61 in 2021-22). Although a smaller number of safeguarding cases were reported in 2022-23, the reported safeguarding cases cover all areas of the Charity, demonstrating our commitment to safeguarding each of our service users.
Looking forward, we will be taking a more joined up approach to safeguarding, health and safety and equality, diversity and inclusion, recognising the interdependencies in these areas, particularly around accessibility and additional support needs. We will also be providing additional support to staff dealing with mental health concerns via our Mental Health Champions and additional CPD sessions provided to teaching staff, such as sessions on online safety, gaming and gambling risks, harm and awareness.
At Central YMCA we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) in everything we do. We believe creating an organisation where everyone feels valued is not only the right thing to do, but also helps drive success and create impact. In recognition of this commitment, we are driven by our core value of Equity, breaking down barriers to ensure everyone can thrive.
We are committed to creating environments in which our people and communities are treated fairly and with respect. This includes our staff, volunteers, trustees, members, learners, apprentices and other members of the public we engage with. We are committed to a culture that recognises, celebrates and values the differences between individuals. We firmly believe that a diverse and inclusive workforce is integral to meeting the needs of our diverse communities and creating inclusive spaces. These commitments also closely align with our wider ambitions to contribute to the United Nations’ SDGs, particularly Gender Equality and Reduced Inequalities.
Understanding how we can better serve our diverse external stakeholders, which communities we are not currently reaching, and how our products and services can evolve to address changing societal need.
Ensuring we attract and retain a diverse talent pool and provide an environment where everyone feels included, is treated equitably, and can thrive during their time with the organisation.
Ensuring that diverse views are represented in strategy development and the development of new strategic projects and initiatives. This includes making sure project teams are diverse to avoid ‘group think’ and other biases.
Continued to deliver our Trustee Apprenticeship Scheme to support pathways into governance and greater board diversity in the sector. This resulted in one of our Trustee Apprentices being appointed to the Central YMCA Board
Co-opted an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion specialist to the Charity’s Resources Committee to provide support and challenge on our organisational approach
Developed bespoke programmes to meet specific community needs, such as the Girls Move programme
Undertook workforce representation and pay gap analysis against disability, gender, race, ethnicity and cultural heritage and sexual orientation
Provided a learner enrichment programme with a focus on ED&I, to help our learners discuss important topics such understanding stress, anxiety and depression, Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+, sexual consent, British Values, Radicalisation & Extremism, online safety and money management.
Sustainability
Accessibility
Inclusivity
At Central YMCA we are an equal opportunities employer and value diversity, believing it takes all types of individuals to make a creative and innovative organisation. We look to attract, recruit, develop and retain talented people from all backgrounds at every level of the organisation, to draw on different perspectives and experiences that add value to the way we operate.To ensure we are doing this, we monitor the composition of our workforce regarding information such as gender identity and gender reassignment, race, sexual orientation, and disability. We also monitor and report on pay gaps for these four areas.
We prioritise these areas in the first instance, identifying any improvements that need to be made and agreeing where positive action needs to be taken.
The data represents our workforce as of May 2023. Comparison data is taken from the latest publicly available data sets.
Measure how our internal people currently feel about Equality Diversity and Inclusion at Central YMCA via the employee voice programme, in order to measure year on year progress and demonstrate impact in this area
Aligned to workforce representation and pay gap analysis, develop targeted initiatives and development programmes to support improvements
Undertake a full review of the current employee journey, from attraction to exit, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, to help us prioritise areas for improvement
Review customer and learner data against external data sets to identify gaps, areas for improvement and where specific intervention is required
Continue to implement safe space discussions and learning and development sessions for staff, Trustees and learners
Encourage best practice in our partners and suppliers, through our supplier code of conduct and development of joint programmes to drive change.
We recognise that equality, diversity and inclusion is a continuous journey, and we need to work with other organisations to share their expertise and lived experience in this area. We are already building partnerships to support our internal learning and development, and product development programmes, and welcome expressions of interest from individuals and other organisations who share our ambitions to reduce inequalities and drive positive change in this area. To find out more contact partners@ymca.co.uk.
Learn more about our partnership and upcoming masterclass with Bridge ofHope Careers.
In alignment with the United Nations’ SDGs, we are committed to pro-actively managing our direct and indirect environmental impact. We recognise our responsibility to reduce our carbon and environmental footprints and play our part in the UN-backed global Race To Zero.
Following the development of our Environmental Sustainability Policy in 2021, our focus has been to drive awareness of everyone’s role in creating a more environmentally sustainable community, building a more sustainable culture across our national sites and improving our environmental impact.
With increasing demands on our people, work in this area has been slower than we would have liked, however, we will be developing new priorities in 2023-24 to drive this work forward.
Looking forward, we intend to measure our current emissions and build a supporting action plan to help us take concrete action and assess our impact across multiple measures. We will also encourage similar practice in our suppliers and partners, through our supplier code of conduct and partnership agreements.
We will also be looking to work with partners to provide additional expertise and help us understand the best way to use our limited resources to develop meaningful change in this area.
