At the end of November, we hosted a panel discussion with our Strategic Partner Lord’s Taverners. It was focused on disability inclusion in the workforce, and the important role that businesses and charity programmes like Super 1s play in preparing young people for employment. The event was attended by colleagues from across Berkeley Group and representatives from charity partners working with young people with disabilities.
Key learnings from the discussion included:
- The importance of creating an organisational culture of inclusion that enables a diverse workforce to flourish and bring a range of skills to an organisation.
- The positive ripple effect on the family.
- The importance of creating employment pathways for young people with disabilities; for example, offering skills building sessions followed by work experience so participants can practice and embed their skills in a supported environment.
- The value of making space for young people with disabilities to step forward as leaders in the development of inclusive workplaces, making best use of their lived experience.
- The benefits to the employer - creating jobs for disabled people encourages a more considerate workplace and forces employers to explore different ways of doing things.
Thank you to our facilitator Gabby Shirley, Director of People and Organisational Development at Lords Taverners, and our panellists:
- Mark Bond, Disability Cricket Programme Manager, Lord’s Taverners
- Lisa Francis, parent of Super 1s participant
- Liza Smith, Employment and Skills Manager, Berkeley St Edward
- Katharine Weston, Chair of Trustees, Mission EmployAble
Following the discussion, guests were invited to participate in a visually impaired experiential session, which was hosted by Mark, who himself is sight impaired. Using state of the art goggles that mimic a range of sight conditions, participants were asked to complete basic work tasks and reflect on their experiences. This was incredibly impactful and provided a great opportunity to empathise with the challenges faced by sight-impaired people.
The Lord’s Taverners also ran a table cricket competition, to show participants how the sport has been adapted to ensure that it is inclusive to players of all abilities. The competition was fierce, and saw the teams battle it out for the win!
We have been working in partnership with the Lord’s Taverners since 2013, supporting the delivery and expansion of the Super 1s disability cricket programme. Super 1s gives young people with a disability the chance to train and play competitive cricket, as well as gain a much broader set of life skills.
More recently, we’ve been working with Lord’s Taverners and the Berkeley Group businesses to provide employability support for older Super 1s participants who are getting ready for the world of work. Activities have included CV and careers workshops, supported by colleagues at Berkeley St Edward. We are working with Berkeley Group to roll this out more widely, aiming to make it a regular feature of the programme.