We always keep to the following values when working towards our aims:
We always work within the Social Model of Disability and are open to everyone in Bromley and neighbouring Boroughs experiencing disabling barriers.
The Social Model of Disability says that people with impairments are ‘disabled’ by barriers in society which exclude and discriminate, for example inaccessible buildings or lack of British Sign Language interpreters. We work to challenge these barriers.
We believe in the Disabled People’s Rights Movement approach of “Nothing About Us Without Us”. Disabled people set up, lead and staff our organisation. We co-produce ways to challenge and remove barriers with local Disabled people so that we can realise our potential and live our lives as we choose.
We are committed to the 12 Pillars of Independent Living, which the Disabled People’s Rights Movement advocates for.
We lead by example, using rights and strengths-based language about Disabled people; using peer support to create empowering opportunities for Disabled people to build experience and skills; and providing meaningful opportunities for Disabled people to be change-makers.
The lived experience of our staff, trustees and volunteers means that we understand first-hand the challenges and barriers to independence and inclusion local Disabled people and carers face.
This helps us to engage well with local Disabled people and genuinely involve them in developing and influencing services. Therefore, our services are more effective, better designed, more accessible, approachable and culturally sensitive.
We recognise that Disabled people often experience multiple forms of discrimination and oppression because of other characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, sexuality and gender.
We see these diverse backgrounds and experiences as a collective strength and encourage people to bring these in to influence our work. This allows us to provide our services based on understanding of both shared experience and diverse perspectives.
We support equitable access for service users, members, volunteers, staff and trustees. While equality is about treating everyone the same, equity is about giving people access to the same opportunities and recognising that people’s access needs are diverse. We are committed to making adjustments tailored to the individual’s access needs to ensure that everyone can participate fully.
This means we build strong connections with people based on respect, trust and empathy. We support people in all aspects of their wellbeing, including in social, emotional and practical ways.
We put the people who use our services at the centre of what we do, giving you time and support to make choices and developing our services around your needs.
We encourage Disabled people to develop positive self-identity and pride in themselves and in their membership of the wider Disabled community.
We bring people together to directly tackle exclusion and support Disabled people and carers to influence change in the local area and beyond.
