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about
diversity matters
Diversity Matters was formed in 2001 by
Pat Black and Andy Smith, motivated by a shared passion for a more
inclusive world.
Over the years we have developed
alternative ways of supporting people and been instrumental in creating
new
organisations to do this. We hope more people in the future will
receive highly personalised and individual responses not standard
solutions.
We work as
senior consultants on a number of national training
and development projects bringing together different interest groups
and encouraging partnerships.
We teach and run training courses on a
wide range of issues like person-centred planning, community building,
diversity, deep-democracy and facilitation.
A recent focus for Diversity Matters has
been running and organising events or forums to bring different
interest groups together as part of organisational or community change.
The range of work we do is always evolving
and we have become increasingly involved in the work of Altrum
organisations, fostering inclusive practice and small scale local
initiatives in Scotland.
Other areas of work include:
• Working therapeutically with
people, including those who don't use speech
• Whole systems
change, supporting the emerging changes to more personalised services
and the in-control model
• Exploring diversity in organisational life and community life
• Using complexity theory and process work methods to bring
awareness to the patterns that help or hinder organisational change
How
We Work
Good relationships are the key to how we work. We may bring
together people who use services, workers and families in
forums that aim for 'right relationships', and explore the use of
Process Work.
We use an approach called “Deep Democracy”, which aims to include,
bring awareness to and value all viewpoints and experiences.
We design training for specific groups; including, managers and staff
in organisations; people who use services and their families; mentoring
for senior managers and advanced facilitation courses for
practitioners.
We have a track record in the design of new services and
organisations that keep the person and/ or their family at the centre
and in-control. Personalised Services are happening more and there is
already a lot of knowledge about how to make them happen.
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