Our pledges

Our Inclusion pledge

Is to ensure our organisation, and how we approach and undertake our work, includes diversity of thought, and that inclusion is embedded into our culture.

Our commitment
Understanding the barriers

We know from all the research that where people live, their gender, their ethnicity, and other intersectionality factors of individuals and groups of people all affect how active we are. We want to break down the barriers preventing equity of opportunity, so that everyone can lead a healthy and active lifestyle. To help us achieve this, we need to better understand the barriers and challenges people face from the many diverse communities in our county.
Our EDI working group & action plan

Safe Ageing No Discrimination

SAND abbreviates Safe Ageing No Discrimination and they work to improve experiences of older and old LGBT+ people in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin.

In order to better understand the barriers and challenges people face and to give our support, we have signed their EMBRACE Covenant.

The Energize team took part in a workshop with SAND and heard about the fear and discrimination that exists for older LGBT+ people.

We are actioning the five commitments of their EMBRACE covenant; these are:

Taking Steps

One of the steps we have taken is purchasing ‘Inclusive’ (rainbow stripe) lanyards for our Elevate postural stability instructors to wear when delivering strength and balance falls prevention classes to people aged 60+ in Shropshire

Getting Trained

Our Office Manager, Helen Madden, (pictured left on first row) is now trained by SAND to share learning and facilitate conversations with colleagues, to support our work and the campaign to EMBRACE A Culture of Inclusion across the county.

Our Environmental pledge

For a sustainable future, we pledge to champion environmental responsibility by integrating eco-friendly practices, minimising our carbon footprint, and fostering a culture of conservation within our organisation and the communities we serve.

If you want to find out more about environmental sustainability, and why we should all be taking action, take a look at Al Pacino's video:

What are we doing?

Here a few things the Energize team have implemented so far:

A Carbon Calculator to record the team's actions.
An environmental awareness when planning our work.
We purchase wooden medals and trophies for our School Games events - they have replaced plastic versions.
We often have walking meetings from our office in Shrewsbury.
Our printing is minimal; however if you do receive something from us it will have been printed on recycled paper.
We are using recycled cardboard displays.
We donate clothing and items to local organisations to support those in need.
Some of our colleagues are using the 'A World' app to monitor their own carbon footprint. Why don't you try it? https://aworld.org/
And we have 'climate awareness' days at the office when we consider how we travel to and from work, what we eat and drink, being conscious of the items we purchase and more. We have organised a swap shop too!

How can you take action?

Sport England's Buddle has lots of information including becoming more environmentally sustainable.

They give hints, tips and advice on everything from reducing the frequency of new kit, to removing single-use plastics, sourcing local produce or installing solar panels. There are a number of easy and low-cost changes you can make to improve your carbon footprint.

You could also spend three minutes watching the animation below for quick wins you can implement today

Welcome to Energize

Who we are

Our values are:

Health

Education

Communities

Funding

Safeguarding Resources

Our Pledges

Our Inclusion pledge

Our commitment

Understanding the barriers

Our EDI working group & action plan

Safe Ageing No Discrimination

1. Commit to providing the best possible quality services for older and old LGBT+ people

2. Commit to learning what life can be – and has been – like for different LGBT+ people.

3. Commit to vocally and visually supporting groups working with and for older and old LGBT+ people

4. Commit to creating meaningful opportunities for LGBT+ people and groups to ‘influence’ what you do

5. Commit to assess and evidence work carried out to engage LGBT+ people (within the group/organisation and outside it)

Taking Steps

Getting Trained

Our Environmental pledge

What are we doing?

How can you take action?

Who we are

What we do

Our impact

Contact us