Scope of Policy 

This policy applies to: 

  • All staff who are employed at The Climbing Hangar or contracted to deliver or support our services. 
  • All members of The Climbing Hangar. 
  • All events and activities organised by The Climbing Hangar. 
  • All resources and support opportunities that we offer. 
  • All staff who are employed or contracted to deliver or support our services. 

Equality Commitments 

We are committed to: 

  • Promoting equality of opportunity for all persons, to ensure no employee is discriminated against or receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of any protected characteristic, including: 
  • Sex 
  • Pregnancy and maternity 
  • Gender re-assignment 
  • Age 
  • Marital status 
  • Race (including ethnic or national origin, colour or nationality) 
  • Disability 
  • Sexual orientation 
  • Religion 
  • Social status 
  • Preventing unlawful occurrences of direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation. 
  • Fulfilling our legal obligations under the equality legislation and associated (CIMSPA) Codes of Practice. 
  • Raising awareness around issues of diversity. 
  • Acknowledging any issues of discrimination that are brought to the attention of management, ensuring they are investigated and rectified promptly and sensitively using an appropriate procedure. 
  • Promoting a harmonious working and training environment where all people are treated with respect and helped to achieve their full potential. 
  • Taking positive action, where necessary, to adhere to our Equality and Diversity Policy. 

Implementation 

We accept responsibility for the effective implementation of this policy. In order to implement the policy, we shall:. 

  • Not discriminate or treat any individual unfairly on grounds of a protected characteristic. 
  • Aim to make reasonable adjustments to enable individuals with individual needs and/or disabilities where possible 
  • Ensure that staff take part in training and personal development to enable them to confidently and competently meet our Equality and Diversity Policy and maximise the learning and achievement of the employees. 

Equality in Recruitment 

  • Jobs will be open equally to all eligible candidates, and appointments will only be dependent upon an applicant’s ability to perform the job role to the standard required. 
  • The necessary skills, experience and qualities for the position will be set in advance for the job and will be demonstrably measurable. 
  • Applicants will be made aware of the criteria in advance and this alone will be used as a basis for selection. 
  • Recruitment procedures will be fair, open and transparent. 
  • The recruitment and selection team will be expected to operate within our Equal Opportunities Policy and practices to reduce the possibility of discrimination. 

Employee’s responsibilities 

Each and every one of us is a stakeholder in the success of this policy. We expect you to make a positive contribution towards maintaining an environment of equal opportunity throughout the organisation. Please make sure you observe this policy at all times. In particular, you have individual responsibility to adopt the following: 

  • Do not take unlawful discriminatory actions or decisions contrary to the spirit of this policy 
  • Do not discriminate against, harass, abuse or intimidate anyone on account of their protected characteristics 
  • Do not place pressure on any other employees to act in a discriminatory manner 
  • Resist pressure to discriminate placed on you by others and report such approaches to an appropriate member of staff 
  • Co-operate when we investigate, including providing evidence of conduct which may amount to discrimination 
  • Co-operate with any measures introduced to develop or monitor equal opportunity 

Discrimination is not just treating one person less favourably than another. It can take place because: 

  • someone associates with a person with a protected characteristic; 
  • someone is believed to possess a protected characteristic (even though they do not); 

We expect you to treat, and be treated by, other employees and the people our organisation deals with considerately and with respect. 

Complaints 

Any employee who believes that they have not been treated fairly, and in accordance with this policy, is encouraged to raise their concerns. 

Procedure 

  1. If you feel subject to discrimination of any kind as identified within this policy, make clear to the individual concerned that you find it unacceptable. Person-to-person discussion at an early stage may be enough to resolve your concern without involving anyone else. Alternatively, seek the help of a trusted person (a trusted member of The Climbing Hangar team) and ask them to approach whoever has caused you offence. 
  2. If discrimination continues, or you consider an instance to be particularly serious, you should consider who to highlight the issue with. For the majority of cases this will likely be the line manager. However we appreciate that this staff member may be implicated in your concern and therefore when this happens you should approach the People Department on [email protected]  
  3. The person with whom the matter is raised will either investigate the concerns raised or refer the matter to a more appropriate manager within The Climbing Hangar. 
  4. Once the matter has been investigated the employee who has alleged discrimination will be informed of the action taken and, where appropriate, the outcome. It may not be appropriate to give details of any disciplinary sanctions applied. 

We reserve the right to change our Equality and Diversity Policy without prior notice. This policy is kept under review and subject to change in line with changes and amendments to law and any events that require the policy is updated.

Last reviewed 19 March 2026