Equality, diversity and inclusion

Duet Health Foundation exists because some health needs are overlooked. The same habits of mind that leave a condition unfunded can leave people unheard, so equality, diversity and inclusion are not a side policy for us — they are the reason we were set up.

Our commitment

We will not treat anyone less favourably because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation — the characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010 — nor because of their caring responsibilities, their income, their accent, where they live or where they went to school. This applies to trustees, staff, volunteers, applicants, grant holders, members, donors and anyone who contacts us.

What we mean by the three words

• Equality: removing the barriers that stop people taking part on fair terms, which sometimes means treating people differently to reach the same outcome
• Diversity: actively wanting a range of backgrounds, disciplines and lived experience around the table, because it produces better decisions about what to fund
• Inclusion: making sure that once people are here, they are listened to and can shape what we do

In our grant-making

• We judge applications on the need they address and the quality of the plan, not on the prestige of the institution
• We welcome applications from small teams, early-career researchers and organisations that have not held a grant before, and we keep our forms as short as we can
• We ask applicants to tell us who their work will benefit and who it might leave out, and how patients and carers have shaped the plan
• We pay attention to conditions and communities that commercial funders pass over, including rare diseases and side effects that are dismissed as minor
• We will offer another way to apply if the standard route is a barrier — a phone call, a longer deadline or a different format. Just ask
• Decisions are made by more than one person, against written criteria, with interests declared and recorded

In recruitment and volunteering

• Roles are advertised openly with the salary shown, and we consider part-time, flexible and home-based working for every post
• Applications are considered on what the person can do, and we will make reasonable adjustments at every stage — tell us what would help and we will arrange it
• We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the essential criteria for a role, if they ask us to
• We do not ask for qualifications a role does not need, and we do not ask about salary history
• Harassment, bullying and discrimination are disciplinary matters and are dealt with as such

In our communication

We write in plain English, we avoid jargon, and we design this website to be usable with a keyboard, a screen reader or a phone. We will send information in large print, plain text or by phone if that suits you better. Our accessibility page says more, including how to tell us when we get it wrong.

In how we govern ourselves

We are a young and small charity, and our board does not yet reflect the range of people our work touches. We are open about that. When we recruit trustees we advertise openly and seek candidates with lived experience of the conditions we fund. Trustees receive an equality briefing at induction, and the board discusses the make-up of the charity at least once a year.

How we check we are doing it

We ask applicants and job candidates for anonymous diversity information, which is optional and kept separate from the decision. The trustees look at the pattern of who applies to us, who we fund and who we employ each year, and record what we will change. We publish nothing that could identify an individual.

Holding us to it

If you feel we have fallen short, please tell us at Info@duet.org.uk. We would rather hear it than not. Our complaints and feedback page explains what happens next, and the trustees review this policy every year.