What are Equality Pathfinders?
Equality Pathfinders are organisations (*including small teams within large organisations) taking part in a voluntary and non-competitive recognition scheme and leading the way in making Fife a fair, equal and inclusive place to live, work and study.
The Equality Pathfinders scheme fits in closely and complements several awards, charters and recognition schemes already in place and it reflects FCE’s approach of mainstreaming Equality and is unique in that it:
- Gives a structured and adaptable workforce development programme
- Works for allprotected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010
- Is non-competitive, inclusive and accessible
FCE will initially offer three levels of the award: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each level is structured as to build on the achievement of the previous award and requires participants to demonstrate a more significant and lasting contribution to promoting Equality and Diversity. We will also co-produce the Gold+ Award with organisations that go above and beyond expectations in inclusive practice and take the lead in creating and delivering further training.
Why take part?
The Equality Pathfinders programme is above all balanced. It does not prioritise a specific group in relation to another; instead it provides a solid foundation for developing an inclusive practice based on equality principles. The programme is also adaptable by being complimentary to specialised schemes or frameworks already in place (such as Age Friendly, Disability Confident, Living Wage, Race Equality Framework etc).
We advise participants on specialist modules that they might consider to develop their practice, but we do not charge or receive any fees in doing so. We intend the scheme to be explicitly non-competitive and we will not rank organisations taking part on a scoring system.
We suggest (but do not limit) award levels in relation to the number employees in an organisation, i.e. Bronze for 1-5 employees, Silver for 1-250 and for Gold 1-500. We consider this as fair as the bigger the team, the more important it is to invest in good equality and diversity practice.
Benefits include:
- Meeting and exceeding the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
- Developing the staff team’s confidence and professional practice .
- Equality in the workplace helps foster positive work relationships, morale and long-term organisational commitment.
- Workplace diversity encourages teams to engage in a wide range of problem solving approaches, as well as increasing their ability to relate with a wide range of service users.
- Organisations can raise their Corporate Social Responsibility profile by demonstrating their commitment to a more fair and equal society.
Taking part in the scheme also gives access to bespoke training and advice from FCE on progressing to higher level awards.
Timescales and Requirements:
Participants are all required to take the Equality Pledge to:
- Promote Equality and Diversity
- Challenge discrimination
- Adopt inclusive practices and increase accessibility
- Help make Fife fairer by adopting the Living Wage, Flexible Work and Equal Pay
The Bronze award requires organisations to have at least an updated Equality & Diversity policy and a self-assessment. Silver and Gold Awards require further training.
A brief description of the progression route is outlined below:
Timescales and Requirements
Get Involved!
Registrations for the BRONZE Award have started, you can complete your through the form below:
Or, to open this form in a new window:
This page is also available as a PDF, click here to download a link:
Contact / Further information: