Our commitment to Diversity, Equality and Inclusion
At the Smallpeice Trust, we believe it is essential to get young people excited about STEM subjects, regardless of their background. By providing fun, sustainable, and educational activities delivered by inspiring experts and partnerships, we aim to inspire the young people of today to become the changemakers of tomorrow.
We are committed to breaking down barriers that prevent young people from realising their potential, with services that reflect the diversity of society and staff who are equipped to deliver in an inclusive, respectful, and empowering manner.
We recognise that there are systemic challenges in society, such as racial inequities in society that feeds down into schools and a lack of diversity in STEM fields, including women. As a Trust, we are determined to confront these challenges head-on by embedding DEI practices at the core of our work. This begins with our training plans, and extends to the partners we are seeking to benefit from their expertise and insights.
Our commitment as a Trust
- We are strengthening our workforce’s capacity to work inclusively by getting external specialist support from Strawberry words, who are delivering ongoing training in Cultural Humility, Sexual Harrassment and Anti-racism. We are also in continual dialogue with the Lightyear Foundation ‘Breaking down barriers to disabled children taking part in STEM’ to prepare ourselves for the next tranche of development for our team.
- We are prioritising this ongoing training, professional development, and learning opportunities that address diversity and equity.
- We will continue to focus on more inclusive recruitment practices to ensure that we are building a diverse team to reflect the communities we serve.
- We are committed to diversifying all levels of our organisation to ensure that DEI is central to all our strategic decisions and actions.
Our commitment to children and young people (CYP)
- Our delivery must be representative and reflective of the communities we serve. This includes ensuring diverse representation across our staff, media, STEM ambassadors, and support teams.
- We will continue to utilise and develop research-based content to ensure that our programmes are impactful and inclusive.
- In selecting the schools and groups we work with, we will prioritise those students and communities that are often overlooked, ensuring that we reach CYP who are truly underrepresented and under-resourced.
- We are launching an initiative to better include children and young people in shaping our work, guided by an external expert in youth engagement. This is creating a CYP Panel: A diverse group of young people will provide insights and perspectives in a safe and inclusive space designed to support meaningful participation.
Our expectations of partners
- We aspire to a position where our partners share our commitment to DEI, making it integral to our collective mission. We have begun to gain insights into this through our partnership events, and understanding their drivers, we will continue to expand on this work within a DEI context
- Together, we will maximise our impact by centring diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our collaborations.