Merton Centre for Independent Living
Winner – Board Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
About the Charity
The Merton Centre for Independent Living (Merton CIL) is a charity run and controlled by Disabled People, for Disabled People. It is the only user-led, pan-disability Deaf and Disabled People’s organisation in the London Borough of Merton. The charity is working to address the marginalisation of Disabled People and make a real difference in Merton and the wider community.
Merton CIL works within the social model of disability and an independence charter, co-designed with Disabled People to ensure it can influence key issues affecting their lives in a variety of ways. It provides a holistic service, with all work feeding into its three strategic aims: (1) to promote independence and inclusion through its accredited information and advice services (and caseworker trainee programme); (2) to identify and challenge discrimination through its pan-London disability hate crime awareness project; and (3) to achieve change locally by working with Disabled people to push for change and conduct evidence-based social policy work.
Charity number: 1152825 | www.MertonCIL.org.uk
Disability | England – London | 4-10 paid staff | 1-3 volunteers
What the Board Achieved
Merton CIL is dedicated to pushing for a fairer society and its board understands that listening, learning and working with communities affected by discrimination is key to making change happen. Co-production and collaboration is always at the heart of the charity’s work, services and strategic direction. Trustees have worked to embed the organisation’s values in the charity’s internal and external work. One of its core values is to be fair and inclusive, and this is seen within how the board is managed – including its commitment to be an organisation run and controlled by and for Disabled people.
To maintain a diverse board, Merton CIL pro-actively recruits Disabled People from the community, and works to identify, recruit and coach Disabled People that are active within its membership to help them build the skills and knowledge they need in order to join the board and steer the organisation. Each year, the board produces an equality and diversity review to examine and evaluate the diversity of the board, staff team and service users. A number of recommendations are made to ensure that Merton CIL remains diverse and keeps the issue at the forefront of its priorities. The board can demonstrate that 87% of trustees are Disabled people with lived experience, which shapes the charity’s strategic direction and informs its decision making while it works in the interest of local Disabled People and takes their evolving and complex needs into consideration. The board also monitors diversity in other areas, with 29% of the trustees identifying as BAME (this is reflective of the community in Merton) and 71% identifying as women. This diversity helps Merton CIL to address intersectionality, tailor the services it provides to the needs of all members of its community.
The board embraces the difference in skills and background, allocating each board member an area to lead on. This allows people to share their expertise and engage other members of the board in creative ways. It also creates an equal footing and a feeling of purpose for each individual trustee while helping those with less experience on a board develop new skills. Alongside this, the charity appoints co-chairs, allowing more trustees with lived experience to take on leadership positions while enjoying the support of the rest of the board.
Merton CIL also regularly invests in training to support the development and growth of its trustees. The current vice-chair at Merton CIL recently took part in a year-long Disable-led leadership programme, and this learning informs how she leads the board, with inclusion, diversity and belonging at the forefront. Additionally, the entire board takes part in annual governance training that allows for reflection on how equity, diversity and inclusion are being embedded within the organisation. Both examples have resulted in tangible improvements to the board, such as increased scrutiny and better leadership, boosting individual’s confidence in sharing views and experiences that may be a minority, and improving participation for Disabled People within the local community.
