Adults with learning disabilities gain work experience online!

A local social enterprise called Bridge Creative which is based in Bishop Auckland, has been supporting a group of adults with learning disabilities to organise an online event, gaining work experience, and learning new digital skills.

On Friday 30^th October, Bridge Creative’s Events Team hosted their first online event – a Halloween House Party. The event included Spooky Bingo, a Halloween Quiz and closed with a fancy-dress Halloween Disco!

Over the past 5 weeks, the team have met twice a week to plan and organise the event, including learning how to use Photoshop to design a digital poster, marketing the event on social media, planning how to make the event accessible to all and working with a professional radio DJ. Internet-enabled iPads were loaned to members of the team to enable them to access the meetings and play their role in organising the event. The event itself was a huge success which saw 43 people attend throughout the day.

The project was made possible through a grant Bridge Creative received from The Fore’s RAFT Fund which was set up in response to Covid-19, to support high-quality, well-managed small social enterprises doing vital work in their communities.

Next week (9^th-15^th November) is Learning Disability Work Week 2020 and Bridge Creative will be raising awareness to show that people with a learning disability can still be supported to work during the pandemic and wants to encourage employers and other organisations to #ThinkDifferently about employing someone with a learning disability.

Director and founder of Bridge Creative, Ben Tinkler commented ‘our events team pilot project has proven that with the right support, adults with learning disabilities can learn new skills and gain work experience from home. County Durham currently has the lowest rate of adults with learning disabilities in any form of paid employment in the country, which is why projects such as this are so important.’

Bridge Creative supports young adults with learning disabilities and autism to run their social enterprise, providing work experience in the events, arts, and creative industries. Usual activities include designing and building art installations for events and festivals and working at festivals such as Glastonbury and Radio 1’s Big Weekend. Throughout the pandemic, Bridge Creative have supported 146 adults with learning disabilities and/or autism across the County, to stay safe, well and connected, helping people understand the latest government guidance and connect with friends.

The team at Bridge Creative are encouraging adults with a learning disability and/or autism in County Durham to get in touch if you’d like to find out more about how they can support you. Their phone number is 01388 449410 or you can visit their website at www.bridgecreative.org to find out more about the innovative work they’re doing.