Breast cancer can affect anybody. That means we need to be actively inclusive in our work.
It is our job to ensure that everyone has access to our chest-checking message. While historically we have operated on the understanding that our work implicitly speaks to and includes “everyone”, this fails to acknowledge existing health inequities, societal and systemic barriers. Our approach can’t be one-size-fits-all and instead we must be mindful of individual and intersectional needs so that we can tailor our checking guidance accordingly.
While our aim is to reach every 18 – 24 year old, when it comes to the data we know there are certain individuals or groups that must be prioritised as they experience worse health outcomes or face barriers to our breast awareness message. We have a responsibility to ensure that our work is intentionally designed with and for minoritised communities if we truly want to empower everyone to get to know their bodies. Therefore, equity, diversity and inclusion has to be at the heart of our work if we believe in quality healthcare and education for all.
The following principles help ground our EDI work and shape our ways of working as a team, with our volunteers and with the people that we collaborate with:
- Intention
- Zero tolerance to injustices
- Give power to others
- Self reflection
“We must acknowledge both the historical context of the charity sector and where we may have profited previously so that we can correct the disadvantage when marginalised young people are not represented nor actively involved in our work. We need to go further than ‘efforts’ and ‘commitments’ and intentionally make waves to close the health inequity gap. My hope is that this work is led with honesty and compassion. We don’t shy away from the difficult conversations and are bold in our delivery for the future. We won’t always get it right, but we will listen and act bravely to create meaningful behaviour change.”
– Phoebe Lazell, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Manager
You may not know...
We're officially an accredited Bloody Good Employer.
We are the first organisation to offically become a Bloody Good Employer!
We've appointed a full-time EDI Manager
We now have dedicated resource working on improving our EDI at CoppaFeel!
We founded an Inclusive Change Advisory Group.
We launched a series of posters and dedicated resources for Trans and Non-Binary people
Check out our resources, made in collaboration with OUTpatients, the LGBTIQ+ cancer charity.
Translated our checking leaflets into 5 languages: Arabic, Bengali, English, Punjabi and Welsh.
We now offer our checking leaflet in Arabic, Bengali, English, Punjabi and Welsh.
We worked with Inclusive Consultancy to reshape our recruitment process & attract diverse talent.
We created checking resources for individuals with learning disabilities
Dedicated resources, made alongside Orchid and Ansar Projects.
We’re using our latest research to build out our awareness strategies.
We’re using our latest research which focused on understanding health inequities, behaviours and barriers to checking amongst minoritised groups to build out our awareness strategies.
Reports
Read about how this work began:
(Branding by Taylor Campbell)
Our Strategy Priority Areas:
Priority 1: Quality health education for all
Increase early breast cancer diagnosis amongst a broader range of beneficiaries including those who experience multiple disadvantages.
- Improve accessibility of our website & Self-Checkout
- Partner with organisations to platform & support their work within a broad range of communities
- Capture qual & quant data from Black, South Asian and disabled individuals & form strategy to cater to those predominantly affected by health inequities.
Priority 2: Team culture
Create diverse Governance, Leadership and advisory panels that give power to all voices and better reflect young people in the UK.
- Diversify our CoppaFeel! staff team – at every level
- EDI Training for all staff members
- Update employee handbook to include new policies & to communicate the support available to the team
Priority 3: Inclusion & representation in our communities
Extend our partnerships with staff, professionals, and communities of young people to ensure that CoppaFeel!’s message is delivered in a way that is accessible, representative and relevant to different audiences.
- Outreach strategy for education activities
- Non – paywall events
- Improve data monitoring to understand demographic breakdown of our communities & work in order to uplift & tailor to specific audiences
Priority 4: Transparency & Self-Reflection
Value and encourage feedback and self-reflection. We need to be aware of our unconscious biases and individually and collectively take responsibility to learn from our mistakes and broaden our viewpoints.
- Monthly EDI updates across our channels
- Feedback
- Continued professional development for all staff – sharing literature
Who helps us in this work
CONTACT US
We are always happy to be called in and listen to our community. We encourage any feedback that helps us do better. Thank you for supporting us while we establish ourselves as an anti-racist, inclusive and accessible organisation.
Our BCAM ‘Breast’ Bits! | Breast cancer awareness month 2024 round up!
5 November 2024
At 22 years old, I found myself with a breast cancer diagnosis and a newfound appreciation for understanding your own body – Anisa’s Story
4 November 2024