Voluntary Organisations Disability Group

Who we are

Through the contribution of our members, VODG forms part of a community of more than 100 values-based organisations that play a vital role in supporting more than a million disabled people to live full independent lives.

Membership of VODG is open to registered charities and not-for-profit organisations that provide services to disabled people. 

Our members’ work is focused on enabling disabled people of all ages to live the lives they choose.

VODG believes that an ambitious, trusted and vibrant voluntary sector that works together plays a unique role in achieving this aim.

We work on behalf of members to influence the development of social care policy, build relationships with government and other key agencies, promote best practice and keep members up to date on matters that affect service delivery.

Our overarching aim is to ensure that VODG members, working in partnership with commissioners, people who use services and their families can provide progressive, high quality and sustainable services that uphold rights and meet the requirements of disabled people.

Our culture and values

Vision and Mission

Our vision is for an ambitious, trusted and vibrant voluntary sector that works together to enable disabled people to live the lives they choose.

In pursuit of this vision, our mission is to support our members to achieve excellence and to influence those who can improve the environment in which they operate. 

Values

Our values guide how we operate – we are:

• ambitious – we have high expectations and strive for our members to achieve excellence
• collaborative – we work with others to deliver our mission and encourage our members to work together
• proactive – we use our members’ expertise to set the agenda and constantly seek ways in which we can make a difference
• professional – we work with openness and integrity in everything we do
• thoughtful – we use evidence and experience to inform judgments and our contribution is always constructive.

Beliefs

Our beliefs are passionately held – we believe:

• disabled people human rights must be upheld, including opportunities to live the lives they choose
• we embrace equity and diversity and understand the impact on individuals and communities
• policymaking should be informed by professional expertise and the views of disabled people and those they wish to involve
• the voluntary sector should play a unique role which is celebrated
• we should work together, share our successes and plan for a stronger future
• we should learn from mistakes
• regulation should be fair, proportionate and focused on quality, safety and improvement.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

At VODG, we are committed to a direct focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

We recognise our progress in this area has been slow, and it is an area rightly demanding greater attention.

Through our Guiding Statement, we are committing to this direct focus on EDI. Without this, we cannot uphold our vision, deliver through our mission or be good allies for disabled people, and their support services (including as direct employers).

We recognise that on this journey we cannot do everything at once and will need to prioritise. We will focus first on disability, race, ethnicity and colour as our starting point.

We will keep our commitments under regular review, and publish our progress in our annual reports.

https://www.vodg.org.uk/asset/61FCCA53%2DCF47%2D4209%2DAC9D72644231D6EC/