Beat Eating Disorders

Who we are

As the UK’s eating disorder charity, Beat exists to end the pain and suffering of eating disorders. That work takes a team of passionate, dedicated people who want to make a difference to the lives of people affected.

Our cause touches people of every background. LGBTQ+ people. Disabled people. People of every age, ethnicity, gender, and class. We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting a diverse mix of individuals who are representative of the communities we serve. And we’d love to have you be a part of it.

Where you come in

No person should go through the pain and suffering of eating disorders. That’s why we’re on a mission to end it. Our work takes compassionate, caring Helpline staff. It takes dedicated, enthusiastic fundraisers. It takes bold, brilliant campaigners. It takes thoughtful, creative marketers. When you join us, however you join us, you’ll bring your passion to a fast-growing team that truly wants to make the world better for the people we support.

What we offer

We know a good workplace is one that is open and caring, valuing respectful discussion and ensuring everyone is safe to be themselves. Collaboration, accountability and empowerment are written in our values, and we’ve recently worked with inclusivity consultants the Equality Academy to better understand our culture and learn where we can make positive changes.

We want our staff to have a flexible approach to work. Most positions are primarily home-based, with the option for hybrid or office-based working for staff who are able to commute to a Beat office. We also work compressed hours, with most staff choosing to work 34 hours over four days, giving them more time to spend outside of work.

In addition, we have a generous annual leave policy, grant staff a day a year to take as study or volunteering leave, and ask staff to use 10% of their working hours for their own learning and development.

All staff are granted free membership of the BUPA cash plan with money towards optician, dental and physiotherapy costs, as well as access to face-to-face counselling. Techscheme, Cyclescheme and season ticket loans allow you to save on and spread the cost of travel and technology.

Our culture and values

We share the vision of an end to the pain and suffering caused by eating disorders. We are inspired by the people we serve, by the difference we can make, and by our commitment to each other.

To make our vision a reality, we need to be bold. It takes a particular courage for our beneficiaries to ask us for help. And we need to be courageous in return – being proactive in seeking new opportunities, embracing new ways of working, and challenging things that are preventing our vision from becoming a reality.

Central to our success is our commitment to building and maintaining supportive and mutually empowering relationships with our colleagues, supporters and beneficiaries. In turn, these relationships provide us with unique experience and learning, which we use to speak with both compassion and authority about the realities of eating disorders.

We also believe that people performing at their best are happier in their work and that happy people perform at their best. So we create and protect a trusting and collaborative environment where people can experiment, learn and flourish.

We all have the responsibility of ensuring our behaviours and relationships reflect these values on a day-to-day basis and for holding ourselves and each other accountable when they do not.

When we get this right, we will achieve brilliant results together, making Beat a truly inspiring and enjoyable place to work.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We cannot succeed in our mission to end the pain and suffering of eating disorders unless we are able to help everyone affected by eating disorders and address inequalities in experience and outcomes.

We take equality, diversity and inclusion seriously at Beat and we are committed to ensuring EDI is embedded in our service provision and our individual behaviours.

We recognise that there are still significant barriers that deny equal access to the information, support and treatment that everyone affected by eating disorders deserves. As an organisation we will reduce barriers to those seeking our support and use our voice and influence to tackle inequalities and drive change.

We know that we need a diverse, passionate workforce to deliver our mission. We are committed to recruiting, retaining, and promoting a diverse mix of individuals who are representative of the communities we serve.

We believe that everyone should be able to be themselves, feel respected and be empowered to give their best and reach their full potential. We will create a safe and inclusive culture where everyone can progress and thrive, and has a sense of belonging. It is all of our responsibility to make Beat a fair and equal place to work, where we all promote equality, value diversity, and work inclusively.

We expect all of our third-party suppliers and partners and everyone involved in Beat’s activities to act in line with our EDI policy. We do not tolerate disrespectful behaviour towards each other, supporters or members of the public. Any breaches of this policy are taken seriously by the organisation.

We know that eating disorders do not discriminate. They can affect anyone, of any age, background or circumstance. We also know that it is only by actively working to eliminate discrimination and create equality that we will be able to end the pain and suffering of eating disorders for good.