One of the largest medical research charities in the world, Cancer Research UK, has launched a new equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy to improve the work it does charity-wide to make it more inclusive.
Within the new strategy, the charity outlines its commitments and sets out the immediate actions it will take to improve, accelerate progress and bring about change. It will focus in on Cancer Research UK’s efforts to promote equality, diversity and inclusion and is a key priority for the charity in its fight against cancer.
The overall vision for the strategy, according to the medical research charity, is to create an organisation where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and actively participates in the work that it does. The EDI strategy will seek to touch on all aspects of the charity’s work.
Michelle Mitchell OBE, Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, said: “At Cancer Research UK, we all share a common mission of beating cancer, and beating cancer means beating it for everyone.
“We’re the largest independent funder of cancer research in the world, providing health and patient information to millions of people each year and influencing governments.
“And we’re a large organisation, employing thousands of people and supported by many thousands more volunteers. We believe we have a clear responsibility to address inequalities and to promote equality, diversity and inclusion in all of these areas.
“We have made significant progress over recent years, but we have much further to go. We are publishing this strategy in the spirit of transparency, so we’ll publish our progress each year and we’ll be open about where we can improve.
“I’m personally committed to leading this change for our charity. I am firm in my belief that taking the actions set out in this strategy will make Cancer Research UK a stronger and higher performing charity, and will enable us to make faster progress against our ambition of reaching 3 in 4 people surviving cancer by 10 years or more by 2034.”
The EDI plan lays out a comprehensive programme of commitments, and outlines how the charity will be held accountable for the delivery of them. It aims to:
- Reduce cancer inequalities through its work and in partnership with others
- Develop a more diverse and inclusive research community through the research it funds
- Build an inclusive and diverse culture for all its people so they can succeed and feel like they belong
- Achieve diversity across its governance, advisory and leadership structures making sure decisions are made in an inclusive way
- Engage with people in ways that are inclusive, relevant and accessible
The charity’s EDI strategy is also underpinned by the following principles:
- To become an anti-racist charity and challenge racism and discrimination in the scope of its work
- Work collaboratively across the charity and with other likeminded organisations to achieve its vision and to leverage more impact
- Become an accessible charity that treats people with dignity and respect in every interaction
- Use its influence to promote equality and inclusion internally and in its work with others
- Continue to improve, adopt best practices and learn from others
Collect data where the charity does not have it, to deepen its understanding of its audiences and better inform its work
