KEY PLAYERS

Our EDI Advisory Group

Our Culture Champions

A Culture Champion is someone who believes in, helps develop, and champions the culture of their organisation. They play an important role in helping implement and sustain cultural change, and in finding ways to bring that culture to life. Here’s some things that sum up Culture Champions and the part they play within our organisation:

▶ They have their fingers on the pulse to highlight and help fix any issues that may be impacting the wider team to help drive engagement levels.

▶ They’re a trusted voice who can represent what’s happening and how team members are feeling.

▶ They help with two-way communication –they can cascade and share updates across teams, as well as share feedback to the group or to management on current issues.

▶ They role model the changes or actions needed to show their commitment to the culture change programme.

Members of our EDI Advisory Group act as critical friends within the Foundation providing a ‘check and challenge’ function. They’re tasked with looking at new proposals, policies and procedures through an EDI lens, this is to ensure that when the Foundation makes decisions, they’ve been considered from different perspectives minimising the risk of adverse effects on any group or community. They also look for opportunities and suggest new ideas and initiatives to make our work more inclusive.

The EDI Advisory Group members:

▶ Are individuals from a range of backgrounds who collectively bring diversity of thought, expertise and experience.

▶ Advise on specific items that arise and check and challenge projects or initiatives from an inclusion perspective.

▶ Help to monitor progress against the actions set out within this strategy.

▶ Participate in and lead EDI related initiatives and events.

▶ Demonstrate a strong commitment and genuine desire to make a difference to inclusion and diversity.

What will good look like?

EDI is often referred to as ‘a journey’, if this is the case then we recognise that it’s not a linear one. We see inclusion as our goal, there are multiple ways to get closer to it but not necessarily one direct path. This plan acts as more of a compass or game plan than a map, keeping us on track and helping us navigate towards our goal.

Here we’ve set out some of our key milestones.

More opportunities

The pitches and facilities we invest in become more accessible and inclusive. We reach a diverse range of communities and offer more opportunities for people to enjoy sport.

Our four corners

Our four corners work has clearly articulated the values and behaviours we’ll uphold. We’ve set ourselves clear targets and developed some effective initiatives that we consider to be examples of best practice.

Our experience

The experience of our teammates and their perception of the Foundation is positive.

Our guidance

Our guidance and support to our applicants is considered best practice.

Our process

Take responsibility

Teammates take responsibility and recognise the value and importance of EDI. All teammates have EDI training and any additional role specific training to ensure everyone has the tools they need.

The Foundation’s diversity increases and we make progress towards our targets

Our processes and systems are reviewed and improved to ensure they work for everyone and help us monitor progress.

2ND HALF—ACTION PLAN

Our

1. People

We aim to ensure all of our people feel valued, included and part of a united team. We believe that by having a diverse workforce we’ll make better decisions and be more representative of the communities we serve. We depend on our colleagues to live our values and to deliver our mission.

4. Profile

By telling our stories we aim to increase understanding about the ways in which sport can positively impact communities. By sharing our message, we can change perceptions and welcome new participants and audiences to football and other team sports. Through this we aim to tackle inequalities and promote fair play.

Unlocking the power of pitches to transform lives and communities

3. Pitches

2. Performance

We strive to be star performers, to ensure the best outcomes for our Funding Partners, grant applicants and the communities we support. This section of the strategy sets out how we will improve our policies and processes to deliver these outcomes inclusively.

We understand the power of the pitch, investing in facilities people can be proud to play at is what we do. We’re passionate supporters of the game and we’ll use our expertise to work with and engage applicants and communities across England to increase access for everyone. We’ll explore different facility types and develop targeted programmes because we know that one size doesn’t fit all.