Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Soundabout wants to make sure that the work we do is easy for everyone in the Learning Disabled community to join in with, including their families, carers, teachers and friends.
Sometimes we will need to do things differently to make sure everyone is welcome, actively encouraged and supported to use Soundabout. This is what our ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’ work is all about.
We are committed to equity, valuing diversity, and to developing an organisation that is informed by the Soundabout community and the social model of disability ensuring accessibility and inclusivity.
Priorities for 2026
Better representation of Learning Disabled people in the Soundabout workforce.
Developing creative ways to ensure the Soundabout community are at the heart of decision making across the organisation.
Key Initiatives
Staff EDI Group and Action Plan
To maintain momentum and drive our EDI approach, our staff EDI group meets fortnightly to update and implement the organisation’s EDI action plan.
The plan covers all areas of organisation including how we recruit; how we pay/support staff; how we act (culture and approach); how we source suppliers; ethical fundraising; how we advocate for our communities; and how we programme/plan.
The EDI group also leads on accreditation / kite marks, e.g. Disability Confident Employer scheme, where we are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer.
Experts by Experience Groups
At Soundabout we acknowledge the importance of the voice of our participants and their families being fully reflected in our work.
Our Experts by Experiences meetings are an opportunity for beneficiaries to contribute their views to strategic decisions and planning of Soundabout.
Guest Speakers
We recognise that EDI is vast, that there are many areas of EDI that we wish to develop, and that we need help from external experts to do this.
We have recently launched quarterly events for the Soundabout workforce focussing on specific EDI related themes, for example the most recent event explored cultural awareness led by Musician’s Without Borders.
Emerging and Graduate Leaders Programmes
As part of our efforts to increase Learning Disability representation within our workforce, we are developing our Emerging and Graduate Emerging Leaders programme.
Following a year long Emerging Leaders course, the graduates use their wealth of skills, creativity and lived experience to support Soundabout projects and ensembles in voluntary and paid placements.