THE eye-opening, real-life experiences of people whose lives have been turned around with the support of national employment charity Shaw Trust, will be heard by social service policy makers at a conference in Newcastle.
A group of six people from across the UK will reveal the powerful impact the Trust has made on their lives when they tell their stories at a fringe meeting on Thursday (October 21) at the National Social Services Conference.
Shaw Trust, is using the event at the conference organised by the Association of Directors of Social Services, to outline its highly successful Alternatives to Day Care projects, which is being seen as the way forward.
Middlesbrough mum Georgie Hamari, now 52, will tell delegates about her struggle to get work despite her qualification-crammed CV.
Georgie, who is severely visually impaired and registered deaf became a qualified social worker at 50 but couldn't land a job until Shaw Trust stepped in to help.
"I'm rather hoping one of the delegates will give me a social worker job, but my main aim for speaking out is to support Shaw Trust, without whose help I wouldn/\REPLACED/t be where I am today," says Georgie,
The Trust, which is already working with some 40 Health Authorities and Social Services Departments aims to become the UK's major not-for-profit provider of employment-based health and social care day care provision.
"We are the only provider who can offer a full range of services, from support to achieve open employment, through to vocational and leisure activities for severely disabled individuals," says Shaw Trust's Chief Operating Officer Tim Cooper.
The Trust's innovative approach, and its ability to lock into a vast range of alternative funding sources, has already proved a potent combination for thousands of people.
Swansea mother Nonn Rice mother to Adam 26 who has Downs Syndrome, is also glad of the opportunity to tell her moving story.
"I want to stand up and tell people of our experience because I can't say strongly enough what Shaw Trust has meant to us - they threw me a lifeline," said Nonn
Their problems were triggered by the sudden death of Adam's dad. The shock and grief transformed him from the quiet, sensitive, gentle, soul everyone knew into a withdrawn violently angry young man.
Shaw Trust acted quickly and innovatively. The answer lay in providing Adam with a personal adviser from being trained at the Trust/\REPLACED/s Disability Action Centre in Neath.
Middlesbrough teenager Daniel Allick will tell how courses designed to improve confidence followed by a work placement at a Shaw Trust run factory Ayresome Industries led to a permanent position there.
"I didn't realise there were so many options for someone like me until I was put in touch with the Trust then it just got better and better," says Dan, who suffers from a moderate to severe hearing loss and mild Cerebral Palsy.
Middlesbrough Director of Social Services Jan Douglas has seen the positive power of the Trust at work firsthand, "It is very much in line with our modernisation agenda shifting away from thinking we have to provide old traditional style day care service,"
"When we bring in an organisation like Shaw Trust it really does make our task much easier because we can rely on their expertise and experience.
"We save money because they do the job more efficiently for us and on top of that they are able to access new money. It's a win-win situation for everyone." she said.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. We have full interviews with all six guest speakers available for use as additional feature material .
2. Shaw Trust is a 22 year-old national charity, which is internationally recognised as one of the leading authorities in disability, disadvantage and employment.
3. We provide training and work opportunities to people disadvantaged in the labour market due to disability, ill health, or other social circumstances. We are the UK's leading provider of employment services for disabled people.
4. Shaw Trust's services include successful Alternatives to Day Care projects across the country. The projects aim to empower the individual to find confidence, gain new skills, move on to better things and free up places for others to benefit.
5. Shaw Trust also delivers 33% of the government/\REPLACED/s Job Broking programme (freephone 0800 085 1001), part of the government/\REPLACED/s New Deal for Disabled People. This is a specialist provision, delivering a return to work service for those currently in receipt of incapacity and sickness benefits.
6. The Trust has just launched the nationwide Break the Chains campaign (www.breakthechains.org.uk) to liberate thousands trapped on Incapacity Benefit.
7. For further information on this release or the Break the Chains campaign, please contact Shaw Trust's Regional PR Managers Josie Hoskins on 07779 317793 and Evelyn O'Keefe on 07974 224938. Or you can email crucial@dircon.co.uk or click onto www.shaw-trust.org.uk
8. For further information on the Association of Directors of Social Services' National Social Services Conference, please contact or log onto www.adss.org.uk
