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Philosophy

Introduction

Options for Life was founded by Christians, under its original name of Warley Leisure Project. It was first established in a local church that provided the main source of paid staff and volunteers as well as several members of the Board of Trustees. As the organisation grew it was joined by staff and volunteers, many of whom would not describe themselves as ‘Christians'.

The organisation has, from the beginning, sought to be inclusive. It strives to treat people with integrity regardless of their faith (or lack of faith). It works with other individuals and organisations that share the objective of enabling people with a learning disability to lead a full life in the community. Its ethos is rooted in a set of principles that draw their inspiration from the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, and may be shared by followers of other faiths, and that is that the ultimate value is in people.

The organisation's guiding principles are not imposed by the Board of Trustees. It is important that all members of the organisation agree that, as far as they are able, they will seek to put these principles into practice in the planning, management and delivery of its services, to the benefit of participants.

Acceptance of everyone within Options for Life regardless of ability

We aim to ensure that everyone in the organisation is accepted, valued and treated with care and respect, regardless of their current abilities or future potential.

Promoting each other's interests

We seek to encourage an attitude of love, care, respect and consideration amongst those involved in every aspect of the organisation and its services. We believe that it is better to serve than to be served. We therefore seek to ‘go the extra mile' and to treat people in the way we ourselves would want to be treated. Paid staff, volunteers, the Board of Trustees and others in positions of responsibility have a special duty to lead by example, and to encourage this attitude throughout the organisation.

Helping participants to live life to the full

We seek to provide settings in which participants are able to realise their potential through access to leisure and other opportunities. Our aim is that the services and wider activities we provide will help to promote a sense of well-being and self-worth among participants.

Providing services that respond to participants' needs and aspirations

We want to help meet the needs that participants themselves believe to be most important - including their physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being. This means that we listen carefully to participants and that our approach to service design and delivery is informed by their views about their priorities and aspirations. Our intention is to focus not just upon participants' immediate priorities but, wherever possible, also upon their longer-term aspirations.

Daring to make a difference

We want to promote the expansion of existing services in order to fulfil participants' needs and aspirations that are not met through existing provision. We do not seek growth for its own sake but where we have the necessary resources to make a difference we will seek to address unmet need through the development of new services or new approaches to provision. Where we do not currently have access to the resources needed to do this, we will seek to raise the awareness of unmet needs among policy makers, funders and other potential providers.

Taking responsibility for and learning from mistakes

We try to avoid making mistakes but we realise that we will not always succeed. Where we do make mistakes we will (both as individuals and as an organisation) own up, take responsibility for making amends where possible, seek to learn from our mistakes, and try to avoid repeating them.

Respecting the rights of individuals to adhere to their own beliefs

We try to deal equally fairly with everyone, irrespective of the faith (or lack of faith) that they profess, and to uphold the right of participants to follow their own beliefs at the service(s) they participate in, so long as this does not infringe the rights and well-being of other participants, staff or volunteers.

Encouraging volunteers and paid staff to develop their skills and capacities

We believe that the motivation, skills and attitude of paid staff and volunteers are fundamentally important to the continued health of the organisation and the quality of service provision. We therefore aim to extend to paid staff and volunteers opportunities to refresh and develop their current skills and capabilities in line with their own aspirations and the needs of the organisation as a whole.

Dealing with issues relating to staffing, finance and other management issues with integrity and transparency

We seek to handle all issues of recruitment, staffing and financial and administrative management with integrity and transparency. We place great value on the work of all our staff, volunteers and Board of Trustee members, and regard it as priority that we deal righteously with all aspects of administration and management of individual services and the organisation as a whole.

Seeking to operate in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable way

Options for Life recognises its obligations towards helping to safeguard the environment, and aims to minimise the environmental impact of our activities on local communities by sustainable practices, usage of green materials and taking measures to promote the conservation of energy, water and other scarce resources.

Additionally we strive to operate in a socially responsible way; acting with concern and sensitivity, aware of the impact our actions have on others. We endeavour to follow socially responsible practices, for example, we use fair trade products across the organisation where possible. Our overall aim is to minimise any harmful impact our actions might have on people, animals and the environment.