Launch of SES WorkableNI Update As We Celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities 2023

Greetings from the SES Consortium 👋

Welcome to the Launch of our Quarterly Newsletter !!! 

SES – 7 Disability Organisations/Charities providing specialist and bespoke in work Support

Each Quarter we will share an update on the WorkableNI programme, delivered by the SES Consortium. (www.sesni.org.uk ) The 1st As the World prepares to celebrate International Day of People with Disabilities 2023. The theme for the IDPD in 2023 is ;

“United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by persons with disabilities”

 

Key Highlights April – October 2023

Consortium Participants – 267 New starts – 55 Progressions – 49

Would you, or someone you know benefit from Workable Support? We are currently open to new participants. Click here to make a referral into the WorkableNI SES Team Contact | Supported Employment Solutions (sesni.org.uk)

Good News Story 

 The AdaptNI Team recently enjoyed a peer support meet up in Belfast, 2 Royal Avenue. 12 attended and the group enjoyed catching up on how work had been during the previous months. Laura from the team added, “There is always something that stands out from our meet ups, this one was no different, it included agreeing on a BSL sign for the “Glider” bus service.” The next 6 months support has been confirmed with the next session a Christmas Meet Up at the Christmas Market, Belfast, on Saturday 9 ^th December.

Spotlight on Clare, RNIB

 My name is Clare Dixon and I’ve worked for the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) as an Employment Advisor for the last 16 years. I work on the Workable NI (WNI) programme, funded by the Department for Communities, delivered by the Supported Employment Solutions partnership (SES NI). The Workable NI programme ensures that people with sight loss are not at risk of leaving their roles because of sight loss and they have access to a wide range of support through the programme, which is very much tailored to their needs.

I enjoy the Employment Advisor role as it is varied and although RNIB’s website offers an abundance of information, I provide a more in-depth, one to one service to customers. I provide information, support, advice, and guidance on issues from job retention, ‘Access to Work’, to reasonable adjustments in the workplace and raising awareness of sight loss amongst colleagues.

There are many customers that I am in touch with on a weekly basis, and others to a lesser extent, and I feel that being able to adapt support to each person’s needs works very well and our customers like that.

Exchanges with clients and their subject matter are diverse, including offering support around retaining employment; communication with managers; accessing information on reasonable adjustments; advising on specialist aids and equipment. I make referrals to other RNIB internal teams such as technology support, welfare benefits advice, tax services, counselling, and living well with sight loss.

RNIB Employment Advisors work alongside our customers to consider some of the challenges or barriers they may face. Together, we consider any accessible equipment, software or adaptations that could be needed and put in place. These adjustments allow the employee with sight loss to thrive in their role, enabled to carry out the job on an equal footing to their sighted colleagues, only sometimes in a slightly different way. I reassure people and help them feel confident enough to break down barriers, raising their self-esteem, especially when newly diagnosed, or new to sight loss.

For more information on the employment services on offer, call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit rnib.org.uk/employment

Job vacancies within the Consortium

Action Mental Health – Employment Support Officer Workable N.I.: https://amh.current-vacancies.com/Jobs/Advert/3318189?cid=1902&t=Employment-Support-Officer Cedar vacancies https://cedar-foundation.getgotjobs.co.uk/

Date for the Diary – Supported Employment Awareness Day 2024 5th June 

To join or remove yourself from this Quarterly update – please email [email protected]  

SES Supported Employment Solutions partnership is made up of seven disability organisations from across Northern Ireland who have come together to deliver the Workable (NI) Programme across the Region

SES aims to offer a Supported Employment approach in the delivery of specialist programmes to assist people with disabilities and health conditions to enter and stay in employment.

The Workable (NI) Programme is funded by the Department for Communities