Hft urges Cornish employers to hire more people with learning disabilities

Anne still talks about the lunch. Sitting round a table with her colleagues, picking what to eat and chatting about the day, not as a visitor but as part of the team. That, for her, was what work was always meant to feel like.

Anne Cleave, 53, has a learning disability and had long wanted to work in an office. This year she got the chance, with a 10-week placement as a business support officer at Hft’s office in Wadebridge.

What the placement involved

During her placement Anne took on a range of office tasks. She sent emails, answered the telephone and welcomed visitors. She completed her e-learning, attended team meetings and kept things ticking over through scanning, printing and shredding. She also made the coffee and practised her interview skills.

Anne said: “I really enjoyed being in the office with my work friends. I liked working on the computers, completing the e-learning and making coffee for my colleagues.”

“I now feel more helpful, capable and confident”

The placement did more than add a line to her CV. It changed how she saw herself, and she now feels ready to take on a permanent role.

“I now feel more helpful, capable and confident,” Anne said. “I’ve practised interview techniques, so I think I’ll be more confident applying for jobs now.”

Anne is being supported into paid work by Lynsey Crowley, a senior support worker and employability coach at Hft. Lynsey has no doubts about what Anne could offer a workplace.

“Anne would be an asset for any employer,” she said. “She may not have had lots of paid work experience, but she has a strong set of life skills which can be put into action in the workplace.”

At the end of the programme Anne was presented with a certificate. It now sits alongside her e-learning certificates and her interview feedback.

1,800 people in Cornwall shut out of work

Anne is one of the fortunate ones. Hft estimates around 1,800 people with learning disabilities in Cornwall would like to work but are currently locked out of the county’s job market, based on its analysis of Mencap figures.

The charity is using Learning Disability Week, which runs from 15 to 21 June under the theme “Do You See Me?”, to call on 1,000 businesses across Cornwall to pledge their support for more inclusive employment.

“This Learning Disability Week, we would like to see many more businesses across Cornwall pledge to recruit learning disabled adults as part of their workforce,” Lynsey said.

The case for employers

There is a business argument too. Research has found that people with a learning disability tend to stay in their jobs longer than their non-disabled colleagues. For employers that can mean lower recruitment costs and a more productive team.

Across the UK, Mencap research puts the number of working age people with a learning disability at 884,000. Just under a third, 29 per cent, are in work. Of those who are not, 47 per cent say they would like a job.

Anne wants her story to land as more than a one-off. Next she will present it at Hft West’s Voices to Be Heard meeting, where she hopes people see it not as an exception, but as what happens when inclusion is real.