Through out my career policy work has been central to what I do, as has carrying out and commissioning research. Below is some information about how I can help you with policy and research projects.
Policy work
Auditing policies and procedures
I have a lot of experience of helping organisations audit and assess their own policies and procedures in relation to equality and diversity as well as employee well being. Most recently I audited the policies and procedures of Trinity College London for compatibility with the Equality Act 2010 and in particular making reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This lead to the production of up to date guidance for staff. (Benet Middleton and I facilitated a workshop with employees which helped us develop this guidance for them.)
Why audit your policies and procedures in this way? The benefits of assessing your organisations policies and procedures is to ensure that you are working in in a way that not only meets the requirements of legislation but also meets your own objectives around efficiency and effectiveness. It is very common for me to find that organisations are actually not being cost effective in the way they meet their customers needs including those of disabled customers. Sometimes it just takes someone from the outside to have a look in and come up with some simple new ideas.
Responding to national policy and consultations
I have extensive experience of responding to consultations on behalf of organisations. I have also organised many successful consultation workshops with seldom heard groups for different organisations. The most recent policy areas I have worked on have been transport, health, access to information and the electoral process.
I have also worked in the area of education policy especially Further and Higher Education. I provided policy updates for colleges and universities across the UK as well as responding to Government consultations on behalf of Disability Rights UK. I also have experience in writing policy guidance in the areas of housing, customer service, stakeholder engagement and insurance. If you need someone to lead on a specific area of policy relating to disability or equality and diversity then please get in touch.
Research
I have a great deal of experience carrying out research projects especially running focus groups and workshops. Most recently I have carried out research into disabled people’s experiences of using transport, access to the built environment and the electoral system. I also managed a research project for CLIC Sargent, which involved facilitating a number of small focus groups with people aged 16 to 24 who had a diagnosis of cancer. The aim of the research was to find out what kind of information the young people felt would be useful for other young people who receive a diagnosis of cancer. The outcome of the research and my report was a booklet, which will be given to young people with a diagnosis of cancer in pilot areas across the UK. I was also involved in providing copy for the final booklet and contributed to editing it.
I also have experience of carrying out other types of research such as:
- Mystery shopping customer service research - I can provide disabled people of all ages to carry out mystery shopping as well as carrying it out personally
- Online research, developing online questionnaires through my Survey-monkey account which can be branded and designed to any organisation's needs.
- Focus groups and workshops
- One to one interviews including telephone interviews
I also attend the Equality and Diversity Forum's research network meetings which enables me to keep up to date with developments within academic research in this area.
Please get in touch if you would like to know more about they type of research I can help you with.
