Beginners

This page is for individuals and organisations new to the county-wide ambition to EMBRACE A Culture of inclusion – or for those of you who have had to take your foot off the pedal, for whatever reason, for a while and would like to revisit some of those quick win ideas to restart your work on inclusion.

Scroll down to view a series of resources you can use to get underway, to learn, to share with colleagues, to start conversations and to galvanise energy to develop a plan.

As we understand that time is tight for everybody, we have included an indication of how long each resource needs in order to get value from it. Each one can be extended by adding a discussion and we have included some specific prompts on some of them to give you some ideas.

Most of these resources have been produced by SAND and local Covenantees. Where they have been produced by other agencies, we have included reference to this.

How long have you got?
22 mins

Find out about some past experiences of LGBT+ people

Resource description: FILM – 70 Years Through LGBT+ Eyes – locally created film designed to prompt thoughts about people’s lives and experiences which may be different from our own. It takes the viewer through the decades from the 1950s and uses real life experiences which have been shared with SAND over the years. You can extend the time by engaging colleagues in a discussion about the issues faced by each ‘character’ – especially in relation to your own service.

How long have you got?
10 – 20 mins

Explore some of the issues that LGBT+ people may experience in relation to your particular service

Resource description: IMAGE and SCRIPT – The Circle – this is a ‘thinking tool’ which helps a group of people to consider the issues which may arise for older and old LGBT+ people accessing their service. At the centre of the circle are listed the ‘general anxieties of ageing’ – those things that may well occur to us all, no matter who we are. Around the outside is the ‘additional layer’ – the things which may specifically impact on older and old LGBT+ people.

Link: Image & Script

How long have you got?
10 – 90 mins

Get some ideas to help you make your own plan to be more inclusive

Resource description: WEBPAGE – The Covenant Pledges & Action Plan Template – the information and links at the end of this webpage help you to think through and plan the steps you can take to be more inclusive.

Link: Template

How long have you got?
5 mins

Get some ideas about how to start thinking about all of this

Resource description: WEBPAGE – Examples of what the 5 commitments might mean to your organisation – read these examples drawn from other organisations of the type of thing to include in your action plan

Link: Examples

How long have you got?
5 mins

Grab ideas from other people’s action plans

Resource description: WEBPAGE – Examples to include in your action plan – read these examples drawn from other organisations of the type of thing to include in your action plan

Link: Examples

How long have you got?
4 mins

Use this as a quick way to touch people’s hearts

Resource description: FILM – Gen Silent: Very powerful film trailer. Effectively highlights issues impacting on older and old LGBT+ people. This resource was produced by The Clowder Group.

How long have you got?
10 – 90 mins

Use this as a systematic guide to get a few of you started – great for a first meeting

Resource description: GUIDE – EMBRACE Review & Plan – if you are unsure where to start then call a meeting and take a light touch look through this 8-part step-by-step guide.

It will provide you with some ideas for action which help you to embed inclusion into your existing training and reporting systems and which encourages you to contribute to inclusion across the county, not just within your own organisation. In these early days.

Link: Guide

How long have you got?
14 mins

Use this to explain what ‘EMBRACE A Culture of Inclusion’ all this is about 

Resource description: FILM – SAND’s Journey to EMBRACE A Culture of inclusion – this film was made as part of the evaluation of SAND’s 5 year lottery funded project however, we took the opportunity to look back over the full 12 years and try to track the key challenges which were faced and overcome in order to reach the point in 2024 when service providers in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin on the whole do recognise that older and old LGBT+ people do exist and that they need to give some thought to that!

How long have you got?
15 mins

Start a conversation about inclusion with a group you are supporting

Resource description: LEAFLET – Inclusion Lite (Bronze)

Designed to introduce the notion of ‘inclusion’ to groups, this leaflet is a starting point for conversations, or even just to raise some questions. It can be followed up with the workbook for more detail and to develop actions with wellbeing groups.

Clicking the link on the right will take you to a WEBPAGE with more detail, an introductory video and downloads for the leaflet and for the workbook.

Link: Inclusion Lite Resources