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Liberate

About

Liberate is the Channel Islands’ equality and diversity charity. We have branches in Jersey and Guernsey, serving islanders in both Bailiwicks.

Guernsey

If you want to find out more about what is happening in Guernsey, please follow this link.

Jersey

Liberate was formed in February 2014 in Guernsey and in August 2014 in Jersey in order to steer the Channel Islands’ response to the change in UK legislation that brought in equal marriage, ensuring that the islands’ LGBT+ voice was heard by its governments. 2017 saw the introduction of same-sex marriage legislation in Guernsey. In February 2018, the long-awaited legislation was finally passed in Jersey and, later in the year, Alderney.

Since our formation, we have been involved in consultations with the States of Jersey and Guernsey on various pieces of legislation including anti-discrimination law. Together with our partner organisation Trans* Jersey, we worked to learn from and improve on the UK’s Equality Act in Jersey. As a result, Jersey’s sex discrimination legislation, which came into force in September 2015, included recognition of intersex as a protected characteristic and protections for all people who are of non-binary gender, not just those who are under medical supervision to transition.

In September 2015, Liberate was responsible for delivering the first ever Pride to be held in the Channel Islands. Hosted by Jersey, over 3,000 people took part. Liberate built on these numbers in September 2016 with the first pan-island Pride taking place in Guernsey and Jersey. (For more information about Channel Islands Pride, please visit channelislandspride.org)

September 2016 also saw the first ever Channel Islands Equality & Diversity Awards. These were presented by Liberate and judged by an independent diversity panel. The response to the awards by the business community was extremely positive and the second awards evening was held in March 2018.

Liberate launched a new DIFERA employer accreditation scheme in May 2017 that demonstrates to employees (past, present and future), to clients and suppliers that an organisation places Diversity, Inclusion, Fairness, Equality, Respect and Acceptance at the heart of what it does.

In 2018, Liberate was given the residual funds from the Jersey AIDS Relief Group in order to continue to support islanders living with HIV and work to stop the spread of the virus. In 2019, Liberate revealed the results of its research into HIV in the Channel Islands and the work that still needs to be done by government and charities.

On 13 December 2018, Liberate changed from being a charitable association to a company limited by guarantee (registered charity number: 98).

In December 2019, Liberate launched its Accès scheme for organisations to demonstrate to employees and customers that they have made the reasonable adjustments needed to welcome people with disabilities to their workplace.

In April 2020, Liberate launched its counselling service in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It supports anyone in Jersey from a minority group who is experiencing mental ill health.

In June 2020, Liberate linked up with the BLM Jersey group to support anyone living and working in Jersey who does not identify as white.

Vision

Liberate’s vision is of an inclusive society where all citizens of the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey (“the Channel Islands”) are accepted equally by government, organisations, society and themselves regardless of their race, colour, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy and maternity, marital status, parental status, caring responsibilities, age, disability, trade union membership, offending background or any other personal characteristic.

Mission

Liberate’s mission is to support those who identify as part of a minority and/or historically excluded group (“Minorities”), their families, friends and associates living in the Channel Islands by:

  • providing safe and inclusive spaces for people to meet across the Channel Islands;
  • providing mental health and wellbeing support;
  • educating and informing residents, organisations and governments of the Channel Islands on a range of minority issues;
  • supporting and/or staging artistic and cultural events and engaging in historical research that tell the stories of Minorities in the Channel Islands;
  • campaigning to reform policies and laws to ensure that Minorities can enjoy the same freedoms and rights as everyone else across the Channel Islands;
  • questioning social attitudes and behaviours which discriminate against Minorities in the Channel Islands;
  • working with government and other providers to ensure equal access to and equal quality of services, such as healthcare, housing and education, for Minorities across the Channel Islands;
  • offering advice and help to residents and law enforcement agencies of the Channel Islands in tackling racism, homophobia, biphobia, transphobia and other hate crimes;
  • ensuring equality, diversity and inclusion in all that the Charity does and all those who the Charity’s work benefits;
  • supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections by:providing medical and psychological care to those suffering from sexually transmitted infections, and providing their families with support, counselling and psychological care;
  • supporting professional medical, scientific and charitable bodies which undertake research and treatment in relation to sexually transmitted infections;
  • promoting responsible sexual practices.

Values

1. We value diversity and strive for acceptance, over tolerance, of Minorities.
2. We will be representative of, inclusive of and accessible to all Minorities.
3. We believe every person must have equality of opportunity in their lives to allow them to achieve their full potential.
4. We act through dialog and negotiation not confrontation and division.
5. We believe that education not litigation is the best way to combat prejudice and discrimination and to change societal attitudes.
6. We believe in working together with other organisations already doing work in the same or similar fields.
7. We ensure that our resources are used in the most efficient and cost effective manner.
8. We conduct our business in a transparent, ethical and honest manner.
9. We ensure that the quality of our services is uniformly high.

 

Who to contact

Contact Name
Vic Tanner Davy
Contact Position
Honorary CEO
E-mail
hello@liberate.je
Website
www.liberate.je
Notes

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/liberatejersey

https://www.facebook.com/channelislandspride

Liberate | Facebook

Twitter

(20) DIFERA (@LiberateJersey) / Twitter

Where to go

Name
Liberate
Address
P O Box 567
St Helier
Jersey
Postcode
JE4 5WN

Other Details

Availability

Referral Details

Availability Referral Details All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence and should be emailed in the first instance to hello@liberate.je Other notes Liberate does not have a headquarters at present.

However, you can link up with us on social media at:

Twitter: @liberatejersey or @liberatecipride

Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/LiberateJersey/ or www.facebook.com/channelislandspride/

Other notes

Liberate does not have a headquarters at present. However, you can link up with us on social media at:

Twitter: @hausofliberate or @liberatecipride

Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/LGBTQJersey/ or www.facebook.com/channelislandspride/

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