On 10th June 2010 Hertfordshire PASS celebrated its 10th birthday and officially launched the “10 PASS Ten Challenge” to find apprenticeships for 10 young disabled people during 2010.
Hertfordshire PASS celebrated its 10th birthday on Thursday evening at an event held at the charity’s office in Welwyn Garden City. The event, which was hosted by Neville Reyner CBE DL, the President and Chairman of the British Chambers of Commerce and the Chairman of the Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, was attended by representatives of local businesses, councils and disability organisations.
Neville Reyner CBE DL said: “I would like to congratulate Hertfordshire PASS for 10 years of achievement to the community in supporting and enabling disabled people to live independently. I take this opportunity to wish Hertfordshire PASS every success in the years to come.”
The charity officially launched its “10 Pass Ten Challenge” at the event, and is already part-way to achieving its target by arranging an apprenticeship at multinational company Henkel Limited.
Henkel Limited, which has offices in Hatfield and Hemel Hempstead, is a leading provider of adhesive technologies, cosmetics and toiletries, owning well-known household brands such as Pritt, Sellotape and Schwarzkopf. The company plans to take on its first Hertfordshire PASS apprentice in the next few months.
“The WorkABILITY apprenticeship scheme fits perfectly into our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy,” said Diane Humphrey, HR Manager at Henkel. “One key part of our CSR strategy is looking at diversity and inclusion within our workplace and this project gives us another way to look at our inclusion agenda.”
In addition to employing the apprentice, Hertfordshire PASS also provides a mentor for each apprentice, who accompanies the apprentice full-time until the company’s staff can take on this responsibility.
The provision of a mentor makes managing the apprentice easier, according to Ian Whitelegg, Director of Welwyn Garden City printing company Prime Impressions, which took on a Hertfordshire PASS apprentice one day a week for three months last year.
“Having the Hertfordshire PASS mentor there made a big difference as we didn’t have to worry about managing the apprentice. For example, if the apprentice forgot to do something, the mentor would prompt them to do it,” said Ian. “We found the experience of taking on a disabled apprentice rewarding and would like to do it again in the future.”
As well as finding placements for apprentices in local companies, Hertfordshire PASS has also taken on six apprentices to run the WorkABILITY project, which resulted in the charity receiving a regional highly commended micro employer of the year 2010 award from the National Apprenticeships Service.
St Albans resident Ed Magee, 21, who has a mild learning disability, recently started working for the charity as a Marketing Apprentice.
“This is my first job that I have enjoyed,” said Ed, who lives on Blenheim Road, St Albans. “The best thing about being an apprentice is learning about the different job roles you can do within an organisation.”
Hertfordshire PASS is currently looking for local companies, young disabled people and potential mentors to join its apprenticeship scheme. For more information, contact the charity on pass@hertspass.com or 01707 321 442.
Attendees included:
- Hertfordshire County Councillors Steven Markiewicz and Richard Smith
- Dr Jon Nay, Regional Apprenticeship Director at National Apprenticeship Service
- Councillor Carl Storer, Deputy Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
- Bob Ferneyhough, HR Director of Henkel
