Opening Doors and Opportunities with Disability Sheffield

6th March 2019

Could a workplace Access Audit and review of disability policies open opportunities for a truly diverse and talented workforce for your organisation? Read on and find out how you can collaborate with Disability Sheffield.

Disability Sheffield is a registered charity and is run by disabled people, for disabled people. We are sometimes referred to as a Disabled People's User Led Organisation (DPULO). We focus on improving the quality of life of disabled people and their families. We offer a wide range of vital services including advocacy, disability-related information, we can assist with disability rights issues, and ensure health and wellbeing activities are accessible for disabled people. One of our most effective ways of working is with businesses like yours who are associated with the Chamber of Commerce. You see - hundreds of Sheffield's businesses could effectively be turning away the talents of thousands of Sheffielders. We are therefore working with businesses to help them improve their accessibility, with the aim of Sheffield becoming a more inclusive city and includes; Disability Equality Training, Access Audits, and support for gaining a Disability Confident Award. We also administer the Access Card. Nearly a fifth of Sheffield's population (19%) has a long term health condition or impairment that's well over 100,000 people. Research from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows disabled people find getting work difficult where the employment rate is 30.1 percentage points lower than that of non-disabled people. This difference is often referred to as the disability employment gap let's make sure the gap doesn't get any better in our city. Our Disability Equality Training workshops provide the tools your organisation or service needs to become confident in how you work with disabled staff and/or disabled customers. After attending a workshop, staff will: Understand how to overcome customer service barriers faced by disabled people Understand the business case for employing and/or serving disabled people Know how to ensure the workplace and service is accessible and inclusive Understand the responsibilities of your employer under the Equality Act Be confident putting the theory into practice An Access Audit (also known as a DDA audit, Disability Discrimination Act Audit or Disabled Access Audit) is an assessment of a building, an environment or a service to benchmark its accessibility to disabled people. Our Access Audits then assess what is reasonable for you to do, as is required by the Equality Act 2010 (which supersedes the Disability Discrimination Act 1995). Our Access Audits set out clear recommendations to enable you to plan and budget for necessary adjustive works. We focus on reasonable adjustments, as is required by the Equality Act 2010, thus avoiding unnecessary and costly measures. Disability Confident is a UK Government nationally recognised accreditation scheme to support businesses to attract, recruit and retain disabled employees, including people with long-term health conditions. There are three levels of accreditation: Committed Employer Leader Disability Sheffield offers support to organisations in Sheffield to help them achieve all three levels of the Disability Confident accreditation. For organisations wanting to achieve Leader level they require accreditation and external validation which we can provide for a basic consultancy fee. As well as the work we do with organisations around disability equality training we carry out a number of vital services. But for a better idea of what we are all about why not watch our video before signing up for some training. Are you a Sheffield Chamber of Commerce member? If so, you can take advantage of our discounted member offer of 25% off any disability related training. Would you like this course delivering in-house? Contact Andrew Crooks and he can help tailor a programme that fits your specific needs and requirements. Telephone 0114 253 6750 email info@disabilitysheffield.org.uk Website www.disabilitysheffield.org.uk