Policy Statements and Accounts

Constitution            Summary accounts 2007 (PDF)         Equal Opportunities Policy         Accounts 2006 (PDF)

Constitution

The company was incorporated on 11 February 2000 and is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The company is a registered charity and is affiliated to Emmaus UK.

Objectives
The principal objective of Emmaus Village Carlton is to provide accommodation and employment for homeless people (known to us as Companions) in accordance with the principles of the Emmaus movement.

Universal Manifesto of the Emmaus Movement
The name Emmaus comes from the village in Palestine where two despairing disciples found hope again. For all of us, whatever our background, it symbolises a shared conviction that love alone can unite us and enable us to move forward together.

The Emmaus Movement was born in November 1949, when people with a sense of their own privileged position and personal responsibility in the face of injustice encountered others who no longer had any reason for living. 
They decided to join forces to help both each other and others in need, in the belief that only in saving others can one save oneself.

To achieve this they set up communities whose members work both to earn a living and to give to others. They are supported by groups of friends and volunteers committed to public and private action.

Manifesto
1. Our Guiding Principle is one which is essential to the whole human race if there is to be any life worth living, and any true peace and happiness, either for the individual or society: serve those worse off than yourself before yourself. Serve the most needy first.

2. Our Conviction is that respect for this principle must be the driving force behind any search for justice, and therefore peace, in the world.

3. Our Aim is to act so that each individual, every society, every nation may live, flourish and achieve fulfilment in a spirit of giving, sharing and mutual respect.

4. Our Method is to create, support and promote communities in which all feel free and respected, and where they can meet their own needs and help each other.

5. Our Primary Means wherever possible is through recycling. This form of work prevents waste as well as increasing the possibilities for providing emergency relief to those in need.

6. Every Other Means of arousing consciences and of presenting the challenge of Emmaus must be used to help and persuade others to help those who are most in need, by sharing their hardship and their struggles, both public and private, until the causes of all their ills are removed.

7. Our Freedom. In carrying out this task Emmaus recognises no ideal other than that expressed in this Manifesto and no other authority other than its own constitution. It acts in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations and with the just laws of every society and every nation. It makes no distinction on political, racial, linguistic, religious or any other grounds. Acceptance of this Manifesto is the only requirement of anyone wishing to share in our work.

8. This Manifesto constitutes the basis of the Emmaus Movement. It must be adopted and applied by every group wishing to become an active member.

Equal Opportunities Policy
Emmaus is committed to the principles and development of equal opportunities in all aspects of Community life.

The organisation is committed to ensuring that no companion receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of gender, marital status, age, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, political opinion, disability, sexual orientation or past criminal convictions, unless it can be shown to be justified.

The policy covers all aspects of community life, from entry to treatment, training, promotion and reasons for banning where appropriate.

The intention of this policy is to build upon the statutory position, so that we reflect the diversity of the local area in which we operate and to pursue an effective policy of promoting equal opportunity throughout the business. The statutory position is set out in the Sex Discrimination Act (1975); the Equal Pay Act (1970); the Race Relations Act (1976); the Disability Discrimination Act (1995); the Employment Relations Act (1999); and the Human Rights Act (1998).

The cooperation of all companions’, staff, volunteers and trustees is essential for the success of this policy. However, ultimate responsibility for achieving the policy's objectives, and for ensuring compliance with the relevant Acts of Parliament as well as the various Codes of Practice, lies with the Chair of Trustees. 

Types of Unlawful Discrimination
Emmaus opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination. Discrimination can include:

Direct discrimination
This is when a person is treated less favourably than another in the comparable circumstances on the grounds of the prohibited reasons i.e. Although there is a vacancy in the community, they are not offered a bed because he/she is a Hindu. This would be direct religious discrimination.

Indirect Discrimination 
This is when a requirement or condition is applied which is detrimental to a significantly larger proportion of one group of people compared with another ie. indirect sex discrimination.

Harassment 
This is when there is unwanted conduct relating to one of the prohibited grounds which violates a persons dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person i.e. A Companion has a son who is gay and people in the Community often tell jokes about gay people and tease the Companion about his son’s sexual orientation. This could be grounds for a complaint of harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Failure to make reasonable adjustment
If community arrangements disadvantage an individual because of their disability and reasonable adjustments are not made to overcome the disadvantage, this could amount to disability discrimination.

Victimisation
This is when a person is treated less favourably because they have been connected with another Companion raising a complaint against the Community i.e. a Companion gives evidence for another Companion who has brought a claim for discrimination on the grounds of race and their subsequent requests for support are rejected because they are labelled as a troublemaker.

Scope of the Policy
This policy will apply to all those involved in the Community and Emmaus will avoid unlawful discrimination in all aspects of community life.

Responsibilities
The Chair of Trustees has overall responsibility for ensuring the effective implementation of Emmaus’s Equal Opportunities Policy. However, all members of the Community are expected to observe and adhere to the principles of this policy.

Objectives 
The objectives of this equal opportunities policy are:

• To ensure that all the homeless community have equal access to Emmaus.

• To ensure that no one wishing to join a community or no member of the community receives less favourable treatment, and that, wherever possible, Companions are given the help they need to attain their full potential to the benefit of the organisation and themselves.

• Wherever possible, to ensure efforts are made to identify and remove unnecessary/ unjustifiable barriers and provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the special needs of disadvantaged and/or underrepresented groups.
  
  

Monitoring
To ensure that this policy is operating effectively, Emmaus maintains records of companions' racial origins, gender and disability. This information will be used in Supporting People applications and for monitoring the effectiveness of Emmaus’s Community Equal Opportunities Policy. Where necessary, companions will be able to check/correct their own record of these details. Otherwise, access to this information will be strictly restricted.

Ongoing monitoring and regular analysis of such records provide the basis for appropriate action to eliminate unlawful direct and indirect discrimination and promote equality of opportunity.

Liability and remedies
Emmaus can be held liable for acts of discrimination that they commit, authorise or condone.

All Companions are expected to draw to the attention of a member of staff or a trustee, any acts or practises that they believe could be discriminatory.

Harassment of any form at work is also a form of discrimination and will be treated as such under the terms of this policy. No form of harassment or bullying, including derogatory remarks on sexual orientation or religious taunts, will be tolerated. Cases will be dealt with under the Emmaus Community Harassment and Bullying Policy.

Any Companion who discriminates against another Companion, a member of staff or a Trustee on any of the grounds set out in the above policy statement, may be subject to action in line with the Community Ban Policy. In serious cases, such behaviour could lead to a ban.

Any member of staff found to be behaving in a discriminatory manner will be investigated in accordance with the Emmaus Disciplinary Policy. Appropriate action will be taken against any Trustee or volunteer acting in this manner.