Minutes of the Job Forum session held on 18th February 2010Venue: Lavender Fields, Hitchin
Present:
Hertfordshire PASS/WorkABILITY: Hanna King, Andrew Bird, Sujeevan Premakumaran, Katie Fraser, Patrick Fitzgerald
Lavender Fields: Ciara Rose Hogan, Ciaran Kiely, Martina Lawrence, Caroline McKenna, Jack Price, Amy Thomas, Robert Voigt
Welcome
AB welcomed everyone to the session.
Work Experience and Barriers
We started with a discussion of different aspects of work experience, and the barriers that people may come across at work.
Summer Job Forum
We talked about last summer’s Job Forum sessions, and HK recalled that she had said that she was interested in working with Hertfordshire PASS, which of course she now is!
When Katy Etherington visited, the residents asked her about what she does for a job, and said that it was helpful to learn about her work. PF shared some of the feedback he had collated from the sessions, and read out that HK had been surprised that KE did paid work and not voluntary work. Given that HK now does paid work as well, she said that she is not so surprised now!
HK said that she is proud of herself because she now works at Hertfordshire PASS and is doing something she enjoys. She also remarked that disability does not stop you from doing anything you want to do.
During one of the summer sessions, another surprise for HK was that AB had got a job despite his disability. She has now learned that disability does not matter, the physical challenge of everyone does not matter. She then made the point that people should not look straight at your disability, they should look at you as a person.
HK’s presentation
HK showed her presentation, that she had drawn up earlier in the week. This consisted of seven PowerPoint slides, and told her story about overcoming barriers to work. It went down very well, and KF opined that it was great to listen to and well presented. HK then took questions from the residents. A good quote from HK:
‘If you are in work, you are there to do a job, you cannot always sit around and have coffee! But you meet different people every day, so you are still meeting new people.’
As PF was HK’s line manager for this week, he later told her that he was very proud of what she’d done during the session.
Sharing experiences
CH said that she does voluntary work in a church. It gives her confidence and she likes being sociable. She enjoys talking to the elderly people at the church. PF then shared his own experience of voluntary work with the Shopmobility scheme in St Albans, which he only stopped because he was starting full-time work. He was by far the youngest volunteer for the scheme, and most of the others were pensioners, but he got on well with them. In this way, his was a similar experience to CH’s. The group agreed that it takes a long time to overcome fears and build confidence.
Mentoring
HK told the residents that KF is going to set up a pool of mentors to accompany the young people that WorkABILITY will bring together with local employers. HK shared the story of Amy Cox and Kelly Laville working together at Oxfam, eventually without the support of their mentors. It was an unexpected and interesting story, as AC went full circle – she started as a mentee, with KF as her mentor, but ended up being a mentor to KL herself.
Benefits
ML asked about paid work affecting your benefits. HK went and got her supported permitted earnings paperwork, and said that it showed the benefits people that she can work up to 15 hours a week without her benefits being affected. PF then talked at length about different types of benefit:
Disability Living Allowance (can be claimed by any disabled person and is never affected by work)
Working Tax Credit (can be claimed by a disabled person who works at least 16 hours a week, and therefore actually encourages people to work more hours)
Incapacity Benefit (which you will lose if you work more than 16 hours a week)
Areas of Interest
We split into two groups and discussed what kind of work experience the residents would like to do. We used what they told us last summer as a guide, and also asked if they had any new ideas. This is what we came up with:
CH – office work (has voluntary work in a church)
CK – office work, dance
ML – office work, shop, gardening
CM – office work, drama, gardening
JP – Waitrose in Hitchin (JP was not a resident of Lavender Fields during the Job Forum)
AT – pub, drama
RV – teaching (is going to start work experience)
Obviously, any placement would have to be wheelchair-accessible, unless it was for JP, who is not a wheelchair user.
ML and CM told that they would be moving out of Lavender Fields in the near future. ML will be moving to St Albans, Hitchin or Stevenage when she leaves, and CM most likely to Cheshunt. After ML’s move, we could look to find her something in whichever town she moves to, but as far as CM is concerned, Cheshunt would probably be too far for us.
Toilet and Kitchen Project
After lunch, we again split into two groups and researched the toilet and kitchen facilities at Lavender Fields. This was done with the aim of making our own facilities at Hertfordshire PASS more accessible, when we move into our new offices. The toilet group recommended that our new toilet include the following things:
Hoist
Closo-Mat
Lower sink
Plenty of room
Hand rails
Towel rails
Air freshener
Extractor fan
Call bell/alarm
Easy-opening door
Tiled floor
Gloves dispenser
Hand dryer
Light switch/cord that is easily reachable
Easy-reach toilet paper dispenser
Easily accessible bin
Temperature-safe taps
Taps – easy lever with hot/cold signs
Toilet chain/flusher – easily reachable
Non-slip flooring
Big u-bend!
Locks
Commode chair
Changing bed
Meanwhile, the kitchen group found that the kitchen at Lavender Fields had height-adjustable counters. We have tables of this type at Hertfordshire PASS, but not counters, and we obtained the name of a company that could provide them to us. These counters easily adjust so that people can use the kettle, microwave and toaster. There were also special cutlery, special cups and long straws.
Canvassing
After the session, AB, KF and PF went into Hitchin to do some canvassing on behalf of the residents. HK did not join us as she was taking a half-day holiday. We first went into Waitrose, where JP wants to work. HK had previously spoken to someone in the supermarket briefly, and they had expressed an interest in taking a young person on.
When we entered Waitrose, we were told that the personnel manager, Roberta Messingham, was not there. However, we were given a contact number and PF is currently in the process of contacting her. We also left a copy of User Driven, a leaflet and our business cards.
We canvassed two other shops, Dance (a supplier of dancewear, and one of the employers found by HK in her Internet search) and Cane & Able Healthcare (a mobility shop). Neither of these had enough space to place a wheelchair user, though.
