Abbey Hill Breaks Down Disability Barriers in the Workplace
Abbey Hill Golf Club in Milton Keynes is taking on 18 guest workers with a variety of physical and learning disabilities or mental health difficulties in a bid to break down the barriers that these groups face when trying to enter the workplace.
Working in partnership with the Thames Valley New Untapped Workforce project and MK Council’s Equality Works Employment initiative, on Wednesday March 21st 2007, Abbey Hill will welcome the untapped workforce to the Golf Club. They will help to run the golf club for the day whilst working alongside existing staff members in positions ranging from general manager to sales assistant and kitchen porter to golf pro.
The New Untapped Workforce project is funded under EQUAL, a European Social Fund Community initiative, and aims to test and promote new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in the labour market. As well as raising awareness amongst employers acroos The Thames Valley of the untapped skills that exists within these groups, the project also aims to strengthen links between local businesses and the support agencies involved in assisting these people into work.
Abbey Hill Golf Club will also host a golf day with lunch for local businesses and dignitaries, which will include a presentation of the I-Work DVD ‘The Untapped Workforce’. This DVD shows employers talking about the challenges and benefits of employing people with disabilities, as well as highlighting business advantages. The event will contribute considerably to raising awareness of corporate social responsibility amongst employers in The Thames Valley.
Gordon Forster, General Manager at Abbey Hill Golf Club said, ‘We are delighted to be taking part in this initiative, and I hope that we will be able to demonstrate to employers the high commitment, loyalty and motivation these individuals have to offer. We have received a lot of support and we’re looking forward to a fantastic day promoting the New Untapped Workforce project’.
Harby Janagol, CEO of Now I Work, who helped organise the event said, ‘This is a unique occasion and very effective in giving employment opportunities to disadvantaged groups, with the added benefit of highlighting their abilities in the workplace to local employers’.
Milton Keynes Golf Day
2007