Disability Inclusion

One of our core values is believing in the unique worth of every individual. We want to be an inclusive environment for all our colleagues and volunteers, as well as the children, young people and families we support. That’s why equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) underpins everything we do.

Our three-year Disability Equality Commitments Plan sets out how we will support and champion disability equality, this includes supporting our colleagues with mental health conditions to remain in and thrive at work. 

Our three priorities are:

1. Making recruitment inclusive and accessible for disabled people.
2. Ensuring our environments are inclusive and accessible for colleagues, volunteers, children, young people and families.
3. Raising awareness and understanding about disability equality and impact.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of the working-age population of UK is disabled (Kirk-Wade et al, 2024). It’s up to individuals if they want to tell, or ‘disclose’ to, their employer if they have a disability. Here at Barnardo’s 8.4% of colleagues have disclosed a disability. We’re pleased that the number of people telling us about their disabilities has been steadily increasing. This has been in response to a campaign within the organisation highlighting the importance of capturing an accurate picture of who works here so we can make decisions that are inclusive of everyone.

We’ve also increased the percentage of new employees with disabilities we’ve recruited and are working to ensure this trend continues.

A few of the actions we’ve taken:

• Supporting a vibrant and active Disability Colleague Network that meets regularly, organises events and offers a listening space for all disabled colleagues, including neurodivergent colleagues. 
• Active membership of Business Disability Forum, a business membership organisation which helps disabled people access employment, products and services equitably.
• Regularly measuring the access to advice and support by our colleagues and using the information to increase awareness and understanding. This includes use of our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), management referrals to Occupational Health and our Access to Work Mental Health support service.
• Membership of Inclusive Employers, an organisation for employers committed to prioritising inclusion and creating truly inclusive workplaces.
• Delivering “Licence to Recruit” training to all colleagues involved in recruitment. The training considers how bias can impact recruitment and challenges colleagues thinking to create a more inclusive recruitment process.
• Committing to regional EDI accreditations, such as the Cultural Cohesion Quality Mark (CCQM) from Leeds City Council, which is awarded to organisations and individuals who can demonstrate improvements in the cultural responsiveness of their service delivery.
• Our Menopause Policy and Toolkit helps us support individuals experiencing menopausal symptoms.

The Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) Disability Confident scheme supports employers to recruit and keep disabled people in work.

We’re very proud to have been recognised as a Disability Confident Leader. This means we:

• Challenge attitudes towards disability.
• Remove barriers to disabled people and those with long term health conditions.
• Ensure that disabled people can fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

We encourage and support every organisation we work with to become Disability Confident.​​​​​​