Supporting people with disabilities in employment, working with employers.

As members of the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) we follow the core principles and values.

How we work

We believe that employment should be positive and possible for anyone that wants a job, with the right support.

We do this by:

• Customer engagement
• Vocational profiling – ‘getting to know you’
• Employer engagement
• Job matching
• In-work support
• Career development

Talking to employers and local businesses

We regard employers as key customers of their services. There is a strong business case for employing a diverse workforce as many companies have discovered. We believe that co-workers have much to gain by supporting the participant in their development – it is a very rewarding experience to contribute towards change in another person.

Employment terms and conditions for people with disabilities should be the same as for everyone else, including pay at the contracted going rate, equal employee benefits, safe working conditions and opportunities for career advancement.

We identify the most ‘natural’ ways to support people with disabilities in employment, working in partnership with employers and all concerned. More intensive and personalised approaches such as Training in Systematic Instruction are available if needed.

We talk to employers and local businesses about what they need to be successful. We help employers by matching people we know to what employers tell us they need. We find each person a job that matches their aspirations, with an employer who needs their talents. If someone needs some more help to work out what their talents are, we can organise work tasters to help them decide.

Aspire was set up by Somerset Council in response to the ‘valuing employment now’ white paper in 2012, evolving from the learning disability provider service’s work preparation scheme.

We are now part of the Social Enterprise in Somerset called Discovery and evolving our supported employment service to adapt to the changes in customers aspirations to find paid work.

Type of provision

Targeted - This is for people with special educational needs and disabilities and their families