Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Commitment Statement
1.0 Background
The trustees of the Community Foundation have made a commitment to embed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) principles into all aspects of our work. Cumbria Community Foundation has been supporting underserved people since 1999 and we believe by adopting this approach it will strengthen our grant making and enable us to better fulfil our purpose.
Like many organisations, we are on a journey to becoming more inclusive and to improving how we better reflect and serve our communities. A DEI Working Group has been formed which is overseeing the creation and implementation of a DEI Action Plan. This statement sets out the key components of the Action Plan.
“Our five-year strategy articulates our desire to make lasting positive change in our communities. By harnessing our expertise to tackle inequalities we can and do drive change and shape a better future for humanity.” Glenys Marriott, Vice Chair, Cumbria Community Foundation Grants Committee and Chair of the Foundation’s DEI Working Group.
2.0 Our People
We openly recruit new staff, trustees, and volunteers. We encourage applicants from diverse backgrounds and want to remove barriers to involvement. We support the costs of people volunteering with us and will actively promote engagement by people from underserved groups. We undertake skills and experience audits of our trustees and use this information to inform gaps in knowledge and experience. We keep recruitment and selection processes under review to ensure we adopt best practice and avoid inadvertent bias.
3.0 Grant Making
Our grant making priorities target those in greatest need in our communities. We analyse the geographical distribution of our grant awards and the characteristics of the people we support.
We reviewed our grant making priorities in 2025/26. We recognise the challenges of intersectionality and seek to respond positively to this when allocating grant funds. Where possible we will involve underserved people in the design and development of our grant making funds, projects, and programmes. We work hard to ensure our grant making systems and processes are as accessible and as easy to apply to as possible. We are proud of the support our team provides applicants. We undertake surveys of our grantees to assess the accessibility of our grants processes and to learn and improve.
4.0 Finance
How we invest our endowed funds is important to us and provides us with an ability to invest in ways that promote social and environmental good. Our invested funds are subject to an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance ) policy, and our Investment Committee monitors this in conjunction with our investment managers. For a copy of our ESG policy, please contact helen@cumbriafoundation.org
The cost of being a trustee or volunteer with the Foundation should not be a barrier to participation. We make financial provision for volunteer participation and engagement and make this clear in all volunteer and trustee recruitment promotion.
5.0 Training and Learning
Our staff, trustees and volunteers will all have opportunities to develop their understanding of what it means to adopt a DEI approach. This will be through the provision of direct training opportunities, support to attend training events and through occasional briefings and induction of new trustees, volunteers and staff.
6.0 Benchmarking
We undertake surveys of the characteristics of our staff, trustees, and volunteers. This is so we can compare the composition of our wider team in relation to that make up of the Cumbrian community and identify any known gaps in perspective and voice. This informs the promotion of opportunities to people with particular characteristics and from specific communities.
| Benchmark | Our Board 2022 | Our Board 2025 | Our Staff 2022 | Our Staff 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex | 49% male / 51% female | 75% male / 25% female | 53% male / 47% female | 15% male / 85% female | 18% male / 82% female |
| Sexuality | Min 3% Identify as LGBTQ | 8% gay; 92% straight | 88% straight | 100% straight | 93% straight |
| Disability – people identifying as disabled or health condition | 18% | 17% | 0% | 0% | 21% |
| Ethnicity | Min 5% non-white | 8% black; 92% white British | 94% white British | 100% white British | 93% white British |
| Socio-economic indicators | Min 10% accessed or were eligible for free school meals or identify as having grown up in working class household | 8% accessed or were eligible for free school meals | 11% Free School Meals 23% State Benefits | 25% accessed or were eligible for free school meals | 35% Free School Meals 57% State Benefits |
7.0 Visibility and Communications
We have adopted guidelines for the accessibility of communication materials produced (web content, newsletters etc.) and make them available in alternative formats. We have adopted a tone of voice guide which is used to minimise use of jargon and technical language. We aim to keep informed of the preferred descriptors for people with protected characteristics. We will ensure grants promotion and publicity reaches minoritised communities and direct promotion of funding opportunities is undertaken to under-represented groups.
8.0 Accountability & Listening
If you have any questions about the Community Foundation’s approach to DEI and would like to make suggestions for how we can improve our practice please contact Andy Beeforth via andy@cumbriafoundation.org The trustees and staff currently in membership of our DEI Working Group are: Glenys Marriott (chair), Kevin Walsh, Suzanne Wilson, Myles Thompson and Andy Beeforth.
