Celebrating the Equality Act 10 year anniversary

By Ann Johnson, Social inclusion lead for Forest of Hearts

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What does the Equality Act 10-year anniversary mean to Forest of Hearts?

The Equality Act 2010 is 10 years old this October providing a good time to reflect on its influence on society and how it can still shape the future. 

When the Equality Act came out in October 2010 it brought together over 116 separate pieces of legislation into one single Act. It provided a legal framework to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. It also provided Britain with a discrimination law which protects individuals from unfair treatment, promoting a fair and more equal society.  

But with it’s use of words like reasonable, substantial, minor, due regard, proportionality and legitimate justification without clear definition it has been left to organisations to Interpret the words to direct their own policies, procedures and working practices. 

This was an inevitable situation because organisations are so varied and therefore to give an informed definition for every sector and eventuality would have been impossible.

The main aims of the Equality Act 2010 for those with disabilities was to further embed the social model of disability; a society where organisations take responsibility for access to employment and their services.  

For Forest of Hearts the Equality Act has helped shape all the aims of the charity by way of ensuring that tackling social isolation, improving well-being and offering services available to all is driven by socially inclusive solutions, not just for those with disabilities or health conditions but inclusive to everyone.

We firmly believe that the Equality Act 2010 is not just a document to read, apply and sign up to, it’s a living and integral way of working. 

The act has certainly helped set the foundations to moral, legal, business and social justice but we believe its more than that it creates a framework to circles of improvement. 

With this in mind, Forest of Hearts is driven to ensure that equality is not an add on nor will it only focus on protection against discrimination; it will inform and influence everything we do in a way that’s inclusive, helping us to improve lives and provide opportunity for all.  

There is no general requirement for a charity to follow the Public Sector Equality Duty (part of the Equality Act 2010), but the principle of it should be the way we develop equality practice over the next 10 years, so not just removing discrimination but offering opportunity for all and fostering good relationships between people with a range of social diversity.  

We can do this by assessing every opportunity for change and development against the key principles of the duty and key areas of social inclusion: participation; funding; data; capacity and co-ordination. By doing this we ensure that the community does not just benefit from our work but that involvement provides further meaningful opportunity for people and also provides opportunity to drive and influence change.  

This brings an exciting opportunity to focus on strengthening the values of the Equality Act 2010 over the next 10 years.

So, if you want to get involved in consultation; volunteering, helping to shape change or simply finding out more about the services Forest of Hearts can provide then just get in touch.