Changing lives, creating futures is a bold vision but it is one we all need to hold firmly in our sights, particularly now, as we begin the heroic effort of stitching our economy and lives back together following the coronavirus pandemic.
Just a few weeks ago Chancellor Rishi Sunak set out his plans for a UK-wide recovery with significant emphasis on supporting businesses, protecting jobs and a boost to traineeships and apprenticeships.
All welcome news as the coming years are going to be tough.
With hundreds of thousands of people already facing unemployment because of the pandemic and the very likely prospect of further jobs losses, the reality is it will be an uphill struggle for many.
We are already seeing a significant rise in demand for our supported employment and training services as a result and we are working hard to provide every individual who walks through our door with the right opportunity to shape their future.
Our support is available to a wide range of individuals including the long-term unemployed, people looking to re-skill or upskill their talents, youngsters leaving care, young adults with learning disabilities, people with hidden disabilities and those facing mental challenges.
The latter is an issue which has been brought sharply into focus during the pandemic of course, with the lockdowns seeing many people left isolated and the familiar networks of support in some cases disappeared altogether.
Jobs and stability underpin all our lives. In many cases it is what defines us, gives us a purpose and provides financial freedom and in our view, no one should be denied the opportunity to change their life and create the future they want.
We’re already helping to make an enormous difference to the lives of 3,000 people a year by supporting them into long-term jobs. Then there are thousands more who we are helping to train each year to ensure they have the right skills for the right job.
But we know there is more we can achieve and that’s why we’re launching our new initiative ‘We See You’.
We want to extend the reach of our support services and encourage greater diversity across workplaces. We know there are a growing number of people that need our support, and we want them to know that first class help is at hand. We can remove the barriers to education, training and employment.
We see every person as an individual, each with their own unique skills and talents and therefore the support we provide is tailored specifically to enable personal goals to be achieved. So, whether you want to be a hairdresser, a builder, a health worker or run your own business, our work centres on helping you to create the life you want.
Although our campaign will be ongoing throughout the year, we’ve aptly timed the launch to coincide with Autism Awareness Week as working with individuals who have hidden disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder is a key part of the support we deliver.
We have specialists who provide online autism courses for employers to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing those with autism and how they can adapt their workplaces.
The work we’re doing here to drive awareness is without doubt having an impact on employment rates nationally for those with autism.
We also directly employ a significant number of people with autism to help deliver Landau’s services.
This is something we’re very proud of so do look out on our social media where we will be sharing lots of success stories related to the individuals who have received our support.
As a business owner you can also support our campaign by looking for ways to achieve greater diversity in your own workplace.
By doing so you’ll actively be helping us to change lives and create futures for thousands of individuals.
By Sonia Roberts, CEO at Landau.
