WorkFit North West has recently been working with Next Home, at a busy store in the heart of a bustling retail park with a large product range, after Andrea was successful in her application for a short-term contract at Next Home, working in the stock room area, doing shop floor recovery and stock replenishment.
Prior to Andrea’s appointment, the colleagues who would be working with her were given Down’s syndrome awareness training. This included how they could make adjustments to tasks in order to give Andrea the information that she would need to do the job in a way that would suit her learning profile.
Feedback from the training was very positive with comments like “The training gave us a clear direction of how we could induct Andrea into the company” and “we will devise an action plan and have a clear understanding of how we will communicate with Andrea to ensure that she understands her role and feels part of the team.”
The participants were very happy with the training and looking forward to welcoming the new colleague, “I am excited for us to have Andrea on board.”
The free training and support provided to employers as part of WorkFit is a key part of the success of the programme to ensure that candidates can provide a valuable contribution in the workplace and ensure a positive and rewarding experience for everyone.
Andrea has been warmly welcomed by colleagues at Next Home who are enthusiastic and committed to supporting her to learn tasks at her own pace in a busy environment.
Andrea really enjoyed her work placement saying “I love it here. I love the people and the work” Andrea has played a key role in the management of the stock in the store in the run up to Christmas and also as part of the seasonal sales push. One key task in managing the stock for the sales that Andrea was responsible for was scanning barcodes of products and checking their status and then, identifying stock to go into the sale.
Andrea is hoping that this experience and her interest in retail will lead to a permanent paid position in this sector. She has fantastic skills and abilities that make her a huge asset to any organisation.
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To find out more about WorkFit and how we support people with Down’s syndrome to access meaningful work opportunities that can benefit the rest of their lives, please contact the team on 0333 12 12 300 or email us on dsworkfit@downs-syndrome.org.uk.
For more information visit the WorkFit website https://www.dsworkfit.org.uk/