Our Ethos
The ethos of Silver Cord is derived from our Christian faith, our purpose and mission, our core values and our commitment to seek the welfare of people in our local community.
It is our vision to “cherish the person, change the community” by providing practical support and friendship to people in the grips of isolation, declining mobility, material poverty, poor mental health or any other factor contributing to feelings of loneliness.
In particular, Silver Cord aims at:
- Seeking to be distinctively Christian in our approach to the needs of any who use our services and our volunteers, by displaying a commitment to Jesus Christ and an intention to bring honour to God in all we do and all we are as people, and as an organisation. God is the author of life and death, and he has created each person to bear his image. Because of this, each person is intrinsically valuable to him, and every life matters. We are committed to expressing God’s love for every person, whether beneficiary or volunteer, from beginning to end, through acts of kindness and generosity, irrespective of their ethnic origin, their gender, their sexual orientation, their age, their religious/philosophical beliefs or their political persuasion. It is our ambition to provide excellent quality care at no cost to the recipient, wherever possible.
- Seeking to be professional in all our working practices, setting clear goals, objectives and standards; providing good quality training to ensure that these can be achieved; maintaining clear, up-to-date working practices; providing and sustaining appropriate accountability processes; and creating a supportive, nurturing culture which allows every volunteer to grow in capability, capacity and confidence.
- Seeking to put people first and at the centre of what we do by affirming the intrinsic value of every individual as being made in God’s image. This means we are committed to showing compassion for others, to acting with honesty and integrity in our dealings, to safeguarding the vulnerable, to serving others sacrificially and without expectation of personal gain, to respect the beliefs and values of others and to conducting ourselves with sensitivity to the impact of our words and actions on them, particularly where they do not share our beliefs.
- Seeking to work in partnership with others who share our concern for the physical, emotional, psychological, material, relational and spiritual wellbeing of people in our community, and particularly those who may be experiencing loneliness and/or isolation. We will make every effort to partner with other churches, healthcare and service providers, professional agencies, residential and nursing homes, family members and community/voluntary groups. We will do this either in direct collaboration or by finding ways to reproduce or extend successful models of community engagement by sharing knowledge, information, experience and resources as generously as possible.
- Seeking to be innovative and constantly learning. Every person we seek to serve is an individual with a complex mix of hopes and fears, life experiences, skills, beliefs and needs. We want to respond to each person in a way that best reflects their circumstances. We recognise that there will be situations that will stretch our capability and capacity. Therefore, we value the innovation and skills that our partners and our volunteers bring in helping to find positive, creative and innovative responses to these situations. We will welcome the ideas and suggestions of all involved to learn, and to improve what we offer.