the right support for the right people

Last week I was watching part of the Labour Party Conference and Ed Miliband was taking part in a question and answer session with delegates. I tuned in when I  think he had just been asked a question about employing disabled people- ( I didn't see the question) because his answer covered Remploy workers  and Employment and Support Allowance.

He said  disabled people who can work should be given the right support to be able to do so. This can be very complected as disability is different for every disabled person.

Using my experience as a disabled person I would like to offer 2 ways in which the government can help young disabled professionals like my myself support into employment..

Firstly for young disabled graduates a national employment scheme should be established to  support disabled people into  mainstream employment. in 2008 I secured a job at Lehman Brothers in September 2008 through such a scheme run by the disability charity SCOPE.The SCOPE scheme worked by me being employed by SCOPE for a year to work at Lehman Brothers, then at the end of the years employment it was up to the bank if they took me on permanently and I know the BBC have such schemes so why cant it be rolled out nationally?


Secondly disabled people need help to move house quickly.how this is done I do not know as there is a chronic shortage of of accessible homes.

I live in social housing in Edinburgh and had to turn down a job in London because I couldnt find accessible housing despite months of trying and was told the best way of moving was to secure a house swap but I couldn't find one.  the problem here is that disabled people cant job hunt unless they have accessible accommodation because they cant  take a job in London but live in Edinburgh like me then face the issue of finding a place to live which could take months.

So Ed Miliband is right when he says disabled people need the right support to gain employment and I hope I have offered some thoughts how that support might look