Access to EmploymentAccess to Employment Working with People with Learning Disabilities Working with People with Learning Disabilities

Newsletter Issue 3Newsletter Issue 3 We workWe work-- to help you work to help you work

Access to Employment brings together employers and jobseekers. Our aim is to enable both parties to form a good working relationship. We do this by matching employees to the right paid jobs, and by providing one to one support through our team of support workers.

“We Work to Help You Work ”

My name is Liz Wood. I manage the Community Learning Disabilities Teams in Exeter and East Devon. I think everyone in Devon with a learning disability between the ages of 18 and 30 should be able to get a job that’s about 550 people. This doesn’t stop us helping people who are over the age of 30 get a job if they want one. I believe everyone has a skill that someone will either employ them to use, or that they can use in self employment.

Our initial target is to have 6 people (one in each area) per month achieving paid employment at 16 hours or more per week. The Community Teams are now talking to people with a learning disability about their employment options. We have to show that we are thinking about jobs for anyone between the ages of 18 and 30 and leading them towards full time employment. This will mean you will have to find more work for people and help them to do the job without lots of support. None of us can meet this target by ourselves and we now have other agencies including Jobcentre Plus, Pluss, and Access to Employment helping us. Please keep talking to your community team members, let them know what is going on and encourage them to refer to you and let them know of your successes.

Five of Exeter’s job seekers have successfully passed their LEVEL 2 Food Safety exams and are putting what they’ve learnt into practice in the work place. Ross Tucker, Sophie Haywood, Suzanne Carnall and Matt Croft all passed after attending the one day CIEH course run by Exeter City

Council. Access Letti Finn negotiated with the

council for the exams to be given orally allowing the four to show what they had learned from their pre-course sessions and their one day course. Sophie has secured a paid job with KFC where she prepares food for cooking and Ross has an interview for a work trial with Pizza Hut that could lead to a paid job. Matt who already has a paid job with Sainsbury’s has now used his qualification to secure further paid work after a successful work trial at the Debenhams in-store Café, Exeter and he’s now working a total of 18 hours! Suzanne will shortly be starting work experience with the café at Exeter’s BHS. The fifth service user to get his level 2 award was Pete Arnold, who recently started paid work at Morrison’s new Exeter Store. He took their In-house exam which focuses on food safety within retail. The Level 2 food safety award is the industry standard which demonstrates competence to employers and is achievable by our job seekers when reasonable adjustments are made.

Pete working at Morrison’s

Pete, Sophie and Matt with their certificates

Michael said that he would like to work at a Garden Centre/Farm Shop where he

would be working mainly outside and be part of a team. We approached

Stokeley Farm Shop and Garden Centre with a view to finding a suitable paid

work placement for him. The owner was able to offer Michael 5 hours work every

Monday until October when the staffing levels are reduced for the winter period.

Michael has had a very successful summer in the Garden Shop at Stokeley,

helping with the planting and weeding. His duties included stacking vegetables,

sorting and recycling and he became a popular member of the team.

Chris Massey, the owner said that Michael’s work placement was a great

success and he has found Michael to be very reliable and hard working. He

would be happy to offer Michael a job next year

and has said that we can contact him in March.

Michael has thoroughly enjoyed working at

Stokeley and got on well with the other staff. He

said that he would really like to work there again

next year.

Due to the success of this job the owner of the local farm which supplies

Stokeley Farm shop has said that they may have work which Michael may like to

do.

Michael at the Gardening shop

Autumnal Changes and Opportunities in East Devon The Access to Employment Team in East Devon has joined forces with the Exeter team to bring forward some exciting employment opportunities for this autumn and beyond. The Senior Support workers Felicity Stead, Simone Shay, and Letti Finn, welcome Dave Jones and Emma Evans to ‘East’. Between them they will be undertaking an intensive job search throughout the area, including job opportunities arising in Sidmouth and Axminster. Mr Sean Bennett is just one success story. Sean has been long term unemployed for several years. He has done some voluntary work in a local charity shop and is now job ready and able to take up paid employment. Sean has too work opportunities lined up for him, one a paid job at KFC and the other a work trial at the Exmouth Pavilions as a Porter/Cleaner. When asked how he would spend is wages, Sean says: “I can’t wait to earn my own money; I will be spending it on E-Bay, buying accessories for my guitar and computer games”. Other local businesses we are building relationships with are in Exmouth, Kings Garden Centre, World of Country Life, Leisure East Devon (Exmouth Pavilions) Exmouth Lawn Mower Centre McDonalds to name but a few. Also, Sodexo who are a catering company that work on the Royal Marines base. In Honiton, new connections have been made with Bostons’ Coffee House Honiton Golf Course Colour Wheel Garden Centre and The Play Dome.

Sean with his certificate

Karen Working at Mount Raleigh

Karen is a very enthusiastic worker. She has two cleaning jobs, one for three

days a week at Mount Raleigh, a residential care home in Bideford; the other

for one day at the Tarka Hub (part of Devon County Council Fulfilling Lives) in

Barnstaple. Karen is paid national minimum wage.

My Work in the Restaurant at The Landmark Theatre

by Helen Mee

My Working day is Sunday.

I start at 12 o’ clock and finish at 2 o’clock.

I have to wear black work trousers or a skirt.

I also take meals from the chef on a tray to

customers that have ordered meals.

My duties include collecting dirty dishes from used tables putting them

in the dishwasher and washing them for use for the next tables.

Michelle Roland

Through Access to Employment, Miriam Snowdon of White House

services at Exeter Rd Okehampton have given Michelle the

opportunity to fulfil her work aspiration to work as a kitchen

assistant. Miriam and her work team have been very welcoming

and supportive of Michelle. They recognise the importance of the

social inclusion work can bring to people with learning disabilities.

Michelle is paid National Minimum Wage to work in the restaurant

kitchen at the White House Helping to clear the tables, clean the

crockery using the dishwasher and restock the cutlery and

crockery shelves. Michelle is extremely happy to have been given

her work opportunity and looks forward to working with her

colleagues which is shown in her effort and enthusiasm within her

work.

Congratulations to all the Access to Employment Teams across the County, who have recently completed the following training Ruth Twine , Module 3 (Adapted) Support and Train 23rd /24th September An introduction to the law Assess the job Prepare and train Gradually withdraw Job training challenge Long – term monitoring and development

The Last Word ……………

Access to Employment Believes

• Everyone can be in paid employment

• Employment works best when people want it

• For most people to work full time ( 16 hours plus)

is best for learning , being part of a team, the

job being real and earning a wage

• People work best with the right support.

Adrienne Russell

County Employment Manager

North Devon: Barnstaple

01271 377597

Exeter:

01392 682 086

South and West Devon: Kingsbridge & Tavistock

01548 853855

01822 617734

East Devon: Exmouth & Honiton

01395 225664

01392 682086

Mid Devon: Tiverton

01392 381 127

Editor: Kevin Gummow

Contact 01271 377597

Assistant Editor: Adrienne Russell