Equal Opportunities Policy & A
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In
broad terms, the aim and function of apas is to reduce the harm that alcohol
causes in communities, or, as it says on our letterhead ”to make a
difference”. Of course this is a cliché, but behind it lurks something that
is apparently quite radical.
Reducing the harm that alcohol causes means
confronting a three dimensional challenge. The breadth of issues covered ranges
over health, employment, public domain, private relational, criminal justice and
education. Each of these can be further broken down to reveal, in the private
sphere for example, poverty, emotional, psychological and physical abuse,
domestic violence, child and elder abuse, educational and social disadvantage.
A moment’s thought brings to mind the pervasive and
interactive nature of the harm which alcohol brings, as one person’s
alcohol-related accident puts a further strain on a family struggling to cope.
The width of the task is immeasurable, but some brief
statistics may serve to give an impression of the area to be covered:
 |
One in six hospital admissions is alcohol-related |
|
65% of suicide attempts are linked with excessive drinking |
|
Between 60-70% of men who assault their partners have been drinking |
|
Heavy parental drinking is a factor in 50+% of child protection
cases |
|
After drinking, one in seven 16-24 year olds have unprotected sex |
The third dimension is the nature of the client group
that apas serves. This is a nonsense of course, as our client group has no
‘nature’, no cohesiveness and no homogeneity. United only by an interest in
a problematic relationship with alcohol and all that implies, apas clients come
in all shapes and sizes, from many cultural backgrounds, from all social strata
and from a variety of attitudinal positions.
How in the face of this enormity ‘to make a
difference’ then? What seems to be radical about the apas approach is the
focus on change. This manifests itself in direct client work, in the emphasis on
altering the drinking behaviour and / or the relational conditions, which foster
its continuance, even if this does not immediately recommend itself to the
client (or their Keyworker) as the easiest option.
In the public domain, it means kicking over the traces of conventional wisdoms, strategies and dogmas and looking for innovative and creative solutions. With an eye to economy, effectiveness, common sense and evidence based practice, apas finds itself, both in its client work and in its policy shaping function, challenging the entrenched philosophies of yesteryear.
The aim of apas is that no individual, whether
employee or client of the service, should be disadvantaged by conditions or
requirements, which cannot be shown to be justified in the context of the
missions of apas.
apas is committed to a policy which will provide equality
of opportunities in all areas of work. We are therefore seeking to develop
services which do not discriminate on any grounds, except where the nature of
the work makes this essential and / or where legislation permits. The intention
is therefore to prevent discrimination on grounds such as gender, race, colour,
disability, ethnic or national origin, nationality, trade union membership,
sexual orientation, marital status, responsibility for dependants, religion, age
or criminal conviction.
apas will thus be guided by both the requirements
and the spirit of the legislation contained in:
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1994
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Race Relations Act 1976
Employment Equality (religion or belief) Regulations
2003
Employment Equality (sexual orientation) Regulations
2003
apas intends to implement an effective Equal Opportunities
Policy by regularly reviewing existing policies and procedures, by developing
new codes of practice, and by instructing staff at all levels to work in
accordance with these policies and procedures. The process is systematically
monitored and will be adjusted as necessary.
Equal
Opportunities Action
A
breakdown of the equal opportunity monitoring statistics is regularly monitored
by the Board and our Equal Opportunities Policy is reviewed every year.
We have further adapted our facilities to enable people with physical disabilities to use our services and to participate in our work as a student on placement.
People from all walks of life are assisted by apas
and I only wish that we could do more to help individuals themselves, their
families, friends and carers. We
provide a very personal service that is extremely cost effective because our
staff and volunteers work so effectively. The
grants and money we raise ourselves is used very sensibly but as always we
struggle to make ends meet. It goes
without saying then that anyone wishing to assist us with fund-raising would be
welcomed with open arms.
On a hopeful note, the Government appears to
recognise the contribution made by voluntary not-for-profit organisations like
ours. They have even said that we
might be best placed to deliver services especially when direct contact with
clients is needed or that clients might distrust state agencies.
They also refer to the great expertise we have in specialist areas and
our ability to solve difficult issues.
My hope is that this message gets though to our
funding bodies and as always the Board is grateful to our staff and volunteers
for their contribution to the success of apas.
Martin Stott
The day-to-day management of the finances of apas is conducted to a very high standard. Ms Ogram is meticulous in her work and together with excellent support from Harwood and Ball exercises strict control of expenditure and banking.
This year we have been able to rebuild reserves, but still have some way to go to meet the aims of our reserves policy.
Problems caused by late payment from supporting organisations continue to work against this objective.
The income generated by apas Trading has again enabled the capacity of services provided by the parent charity to be maintained.
Future
Plans
We
are attracting increasing volumes of work and the physical space currently
available to us is under pressure. In order to maintain and develop our services
we are exploring opportunities to acquire additional space either within our
present building or nearby. We will approach this challenge on the basis that
any developments will have to be self-financing.
We
are also planning to increase the capacity of our alcoline help line service, to
provide more student placements, to facilitate further user-led developments and
to provide additional services in the north of the county.
Data
Protection
apas is fully compliant with the requirements of the Data
Protection Act 1998. The appropriate notification processes have been completed
in accordance with the Act and our status.
All service users are made aware of our Data
Protection Policy and the related policies dealing with confidentiality and
complaints.
Guiding
Standards
apas works with the guiding standards of Nottinghamshire County Council in respect of Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, Customer Care and Support of Unpaid Workers. We have retained our Community Legal Service accreditation.