Creating work experience opportunities for disabled young people

Posted: 17th October 2017

Treloar College in Alton, which supports young people with complex physical disabilities, has been awarded £50,775 to help create valuable work experience opportunities for its students. This grant will fund the role of a Work Experience Officer, who will arrange work placements for students, helping to prepare them for life after college. This may include going into voluntary or paid employment with the aim of boosting confidence and skills for the future.

The Work Experience Officer is part of the Transition Team at Treloar’s. The total cost of this department is over £220,000 a year, which is funded solely through voluntary donations.

Disabled people are far less likely to find employment

Young disabled people are almost half as likely as their non-disabled peers to be in employment – 46.5% compared to 84%, according to a 2016 report from the Papworth Trust.  A shocking 44.3% of working-age disabled people are without a job; nearly 4 times higher than for non-disabled people.

Treloar’s Principal Martin Ingram said:

“We are very grateful to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons for their generous grant. It will help give our students confidence and develop skills and experience for the future.”

Mike Wilks, Provincial Grand Master for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Freemasons said:

“We are very pleased to be able to support the Treloar Trust, which does outstanding work in giving young disabled people in our community the chance to experience the world of work.”




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Charity shops vital to helping people back into work, says Demos survey

According to research by the think tank, two-thirds of charity shop volunteers felt this had helped their employment prospects

Volunteering at charity shops plays a vital role in helping unemployed people gain paid employment and has a positive effect on local communities and high streets, according to new research from the think tank Demos.

The research, which is based partly on a survey of 650 charity shop managers and volunteers carried out in 2016 and 2017, follows similar research released in 2013. Researchers this time found that two-thirds of charity shop volunteers felt their role had improved their employment prospects.

Seventy-five per cent of the volunteers surveyed said they gained new skills, and 73 per cent said volunteering at charity shops had helped their self-esteem and confidence.

Most charity shop managers said they believed charity shops were positive additions to high streets, with about two-thirds saying their premises would otherwise be left empty if the charity shop did not exist.

Demos also found that charity shops saved local councils £27m between 2015 and 2016 by diverting clothes and other goods from landfill.

A separate poll of 2,000 members of the public found a generational divide on whether charity shops were positive for high streets, with younger people more likely to see charity shops as cost-effective, environmentally friendly and trendy.

In contrast, many older people said they thought that the appearance of charity shops was a sign of an unhealthy high street.

According to the research, three-quarters of charity shop managers were satisfied in their roles, although 55 per cent found the job either stressful or very stressful.

Volunteers were generally motivated to help out at charity shops in order to contribute to the specific charity, charity in general or to their communities, the research found.

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Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association, said: “From environmental benefit and getting people back into work to improving the confidence and wellbeing of the more vulnerable members of our society, charity shops continue to give far-reaching benefits to their local communities.

“In addition, this report makes it clear that a volunteering revolution would not only benefit the sector but would also help communities all over the country.”

The report’s author, Peter Harrison-Evans, said that the charity shop sector faced an “image problem”, despite its positive impact on communities and volunteers.

“Exactly half of those polled wanted to see fewer charity shops on the high street,” he said.

“That said, Demos finds that this view is strongly mediated by the use of charity shops and demographic factors, with younger people far more likely to see them as valuable assets.”

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Young Gloucestershire receives £10,000 to help young people get into work

Young Gloucestershire has received £10,000 to help young people from across the country to get into work.Gloucestershire Freemasons, Tim Henderson-Ross and Derek Gunningham, visited a group of young people undergoing a 12-week work-development programme.  The group of under-25’s, all currently not-in-work, were completing a community project in Quedgeley to transform a children’s play area, but downed tools to receive their visitors and explain how the project works.

The group discussed the skills they were developing through the programme and their hopes for the future with the Freemasons who were hosted by Young Gloucestershire’s youth-worker, Tristam Meyrick. Tristam has worked alongside the young people while arranging a series of two-week work placements.

Ben Kittner (aged 24) currently taking part in Young Gloucestershire’s programme, said:

The Freemasons were genuinely interested in what we were working on and were keen to hear our views and our hopes for the future.  I said that working with Young Gloucestershire has really built my confidence and this community project has helped me see that I do have skills an employer would be looking for.

Young Gloucestershire Fundraising Manager, Karl Gwilliam, said:

“This generous, and vital, support from the Freemasons will enable YG to continue its work-based training to disadvantaged young people.  This donation allows us to continue a successful mentoring programme, matching young people to volunteers from the business community who teach young people the skills only gained from being in work.”

Tim Henderson-Ross Head of Gloucestershire Freemasons, said: “We were very impressed with the determination of the young people we met to get into the workforce. Young Gloucestershire are doing an excellent job and we are very pleased to be able to help them.”

About Young Gloucestershire

Young Gloucestershire is a countywide charity that supports disadvantaged young people (aged 11-25) who are facing challenges in their lives.The charity provides training & development, practical support and community involvement to young people across Gloucestershire.

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