About Leonard Cheshire:
Leonard Cheshire is a UK charity providing support for disabled people to live, learn and work as they choose. For nearly 75 years, Leonard Cheshire has worked directly with disabled people to build a fairer, more inclusive society in which disabled people have the same equal opportunities as non-disabled people.
The organisation was founded in 1948, when former RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire took a terminally ill man, who had nowhere else to go, into his home and cared for him until his death. Today, the charity is a major provider of social care services for disabled people. It campaigns to influence government on policies that benefit the lives of disabled people, and works with partners to deliver life-changing employment programmes.
Their Change 100 internship programme offers UK employers a pipeline to talented disabled students and graduates for paid internships. Leonard Cheshire provides training and support to employers alongside access to a talent pool that can help bring new diverse talent into your business. The Change 100 programme has placed and worked with 1,300 interns and 285 employers over the last 10 years.
The Training and Consultancy Team work with organisations to design, develop and deliver bespoke solutions. With Leonard Cheshire’s support, organisations develop a best practice approach to disability and create impactful organisational change. Training is provided to managers, recruiters, customer service teams and awareness for all colleagues. Consultancy includes workplace adjustment, service provision and recruitment reviews, subject matter expert support, resource development, Disability Confident support and validation, and building and digital accessibility audits. In the last five years their Training and Consultancy team has delivered 128 projects and 203 sessions, reaching 5,610 people through training and consultancy.
Leonard Cheshire ran the IDEAs (Inclusion,Disability, Equality, and Action) programme in South West England to help small and medium-sized businesses become more disability inclusive. Over two years, a team of five full-time staff members worked with more than 270 businesses, delivering 160 interventions that reached over 1,150 people.
Leonard Cheshire is distinctive in being the only organisation that addresses the inclusion of disabled people from a holistic perspective supporting employers, empowering individuals, and influencing stakeholders to achieve systemic change.
Leonard Cheshire’s Work In Action:
Change 100 and Tribal Worldwide:
One of Change 100’s employer partners this year was Tribal Worldwide, a company that has pioneered experiences within all aspects of digital marketing, and worked on developing some of the world’s most recognisable brands.
Here is what Sally Boulton, Head of Talent at Tribal Worldwide, had to say about the programme:
At Tribal we have a “grow your own” policy for entry level people. We are constantly on the lookout for organisations to partner with, and Change 100 seemed a great concept. Our Change 100 interns have since gone on to secure great jobs following their time with us. Our second intern has even gained a permanent position here at Tribal! Our experience with Change 100 has helped us to modify our recruitment and on-boarding process, ensuring that it is even more inclusive and supportive. I would absolutely recommend Change 100. The talent is amazing and the support that Change 100 provide is really brilliant.
Leonard Cheshire’s Training and Consultancy for The Langham:
The Langham Hotels and Resorts is a portfolio of luxury hotels in prime destinations, established in 1865. The Leonard Cheshire team worked with the managerial team at the iconic The Langham in London, which has 380 rooms and employs 300 staff.
The Langham approached their Training and Consultancy Team as they wanted to ensure their managers were fully confident in recruiting and retaining disabled talent. They were keen to work to understand how The Langham could become a more inclusive workplace for disabled people.
The Training and Consultancy Team designed a Disability Confident Managers training session to provide the education managers need to recruit and retain disabled employees. The session included group discussion, barrier analysis activities, and case studies based on the lived experiences of disabled people.
Participants commented that they felt the training was well presented, clear and concise. They also said that they would use the learning from the training to review their procedures and processes.
One of the training participant at The Langham Hotel had this to say: “Our eyes have been opened to what disability is. I enjoyed the case study exercises and I feel more comfortable talking about ways we can make better and more effective adjustments.”
