Initiatives

Any member of Edge Hill University staff.

The budget for this year’s pilot is £2,000. At a minimum we will award four grants of £500, although we would welcome applications for smaller amounts so that we can fund more projects.

We would strongly welcome part or match funding from departments to make the project bigger and better, although this is not a prerequisite for a successful application.

We have no explicit list of projects that the grant should be used for, but some examples include:

• staff courses and buying in training
• conducting research
• a public engagement event, lecture, seminar or campaign
• buying equipment, materials, publicity and others.

Yes – in general, the grants should be used to help implement the EDI Strategy. We would encourage an imaginative use of these funds. To help support our plans, we have already identified a number of areas where we would welcome projects. Applications must focus on one or more of the following areas of priority unless you can clearly demonstrate that your project will address an important issue that we have missed.

Our priority areas are:

• take positive action to diversify the workforce and remain an employer of choice
• take positive action to remove potential perceived barriers to career progression
• increase the number/awareness of different network groups
• fill knowledge gaps through CPD, leading and/or attending events/initiatives, local awareness raising
• efforts to reduce gender biases associated with certain roles
• be a visible ally to our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, LGBTQI+ and disabled community
• populate working groups that lead on/contribute to external charters/accreditations
• identify EDI objectives as part of the annual PDR.

General topics:

• Family Origin Equality, Racism, White Privilege, Making the Curriculum Inclusive.
• Intersectionality awareness for example, Gender, Disabled, LGBTQ+, Socio economics.
• Engaging with EHU’s initiatives and events associated with the Equality Act 2010, with a focus on the nine protected characteristics.
• Mental Health, Wellbeing and Resilience, speakers or trainer fees, organising a webinar.
• Transgender awareness and inclusive practices.
• Addressing any specific knowledge and skills gaps.
• Carrying our research, focus groups or online engagement.
• Buying materials to use in activities, in particular those that can be used again, investment in merchandise, for example, pin badges.

The EDI Steering Group will review the applications and choose a range of projects that best meet the priority criteria, and which cover as many different areas as possible. We may also decide that a project is too ambitious for the timeframe or that there is insufficient information to help us decide that the project will work or is needed.

If you’re not successful it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea, or a worthy project, just that we have a limited number of projects we can support. 

The project must take place in the 2022/23 academic year. If the project will end up running into 2023/24 then the grant holder will need to arrange for the remaining money to be rolled over.

Yes, the grant holder must provide an evaluation report on the project – how successful it was in meeting the original objectives, lessons learned and recommendations.

Applications will open on the 7 November 2022 and online application forms must be submitted no later than Friday 18 November.

Once the money has been allocated, there will be a full expectation that the project will be delivered on time and in budget and that a full evaluation will be shared once the project is complete. If there are any changes, you will need to inform the EDI steering group as soon as possible.

If you have any queries about this initiative, please contact [email protected].

People with ‘hidden’ disabilities or people who identify as ‘non-visible’ are among some of the most marginalised people in society, and many people who identify in this way go to university. Non-visible disabilities can range from mental health conditions, autism, hearing loss, visual impairment, learning disabilities, chronic pain, and fatigue among others. A non-visible disability is not obvious and can lead to the development of stereotypes, stigma and exclusion ensuring people do not get the right support, advice, care, and appreciation that all people deserve equally, and this can have a negative effect on someone’s life. 

People who are non-visible want to be included within society like anyone else, but further issues can emerge such as not wanting to disclose, for good reasons, and not wanting to carry a label that in effect states ‘I am disabled’ for people to judge them unfairly. It is clear more work is needed to promote their voices and to challenge the stigma that comes together with being non-visible. In collaboration with staff and students, this project will aim to challenge some of the issues people with hidden disabilities or who are non-visible face, by providing a space for people who identify in this way to express their voices through creative means such as poetry and to disseminate their voices across the University. 

An awareness-raising event for EHU students and staff. A 3 day event celebrating neurodiversity (focusing on SpLD related neurodiversity – dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD) with daily themes/activities/interactive events. Online and physical student resource packs to aid with study skills development, whilst promoting academic resilience and wellbeing.

The internship EDI innovation funding will support a one-week internship for an EHU student or graduate to work in Library and Learning Services’ Research Support Team for one week (33.5 hours). The internship would be open to EHU students from ethnic minorities with an interest in research and would provide a risk-free opportunity to learn more about research support in a HE library setting, with the focus of considering it as a career.

A peer to peer women’s health network for EHU staff.   The network will offer staff another support resource.  The network will look to offer signposting on areas of women’s health which can significantly impact a women’s confidence, mental and physical wellbeing, productivity and sense of security in the workplace, such as menopause, fertility treatment, miscarriage, maternal mental health and gynaecological issues.

The funding will purchase bespoke training by AbilityNet.

The aim of the session will be to increase awareness and confidence when met with diverse cohorts of students and it will focus on visual, hearing, interaction, and comprehension-related barriers and how staff can identify and remove them in hybrid and in-person sessions to enable everyone to participate fully.

What staff will learn:

• Best practices for how to plan and deliver accessible and inclusive classroom sessions.
• The importance of creating conditions in classroom environments so that all can participate fully.
• Insights into barriers that can arise in classroom environments including vision, hearing, physical, comprehension and participation related considerations.
• Using interactive and practical tasks, and real-life case studies to learn how technology can help achieve this.