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How does Choice Support inspire inclusion?
It's International Women's Day (IWD) on 8 March, where the whole world is celebrating the achievements of all women. The theme this year is: ‘Inspire Inclusion’ something that happens across Choice Support and in social care every day. We asked some women we support and the women who support them to share their stories.
Tracie supporting Vicky
“When we embarked on our journey supporting Vicky, she was often tired and spent a lot of time scrolling on her iPad. After some time, and with our encouragement and support, she expressed a desire to find a job, and take a step towards greater independence.
We set about our mission to support Vicky in her aspiration. An opportunity arose at a local charity shop where she has found not just employment, but also a sense of purpose.
With her new job, Vicky’s horizons expanded even further; joining a choir as an outlet for self-expression and venturing into arts, crafts, and baking, to ignite her creative side. These pursuits have enriched Vicky’s life. Along the way, she has formed a circle of friends, who have become a great source of happiness and fulfilment.
Witnessing Vicky’s transformation to finding employment, new interests and making friendships has been a joy to see, as she blossoms into a vibrant individual.”
Jilly supporting Kirsty
Kirsty, who is an autistic person, applied to deliver the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Learning Disability and Autism training. This mandatory training helps all support staff understand the life of an autistic person and/or a person with learning disabilities from the perspective of a trainer with lived experience. Kirsty completed her training and accepted the role as a trainer with lived experience of autism. She is eager to get started. Kirsty also has two voluntary jobs in her local community, one of those is in a café where she works behind the counter. Kirsty is looking forward to being paid for her new training role and is making plans to save her wages towards her holiday later in the year. Kirsty says, “I am very proud for achieving the training post, even though I am nervous, I am excited too!”
Katharina supporting us all
“As Choice Support’s Diversity and Inclusion Advisor I am here to #InspireInclusion. I love that the people we support and our staff feel seen and appreciated for who they are. It helps us support people to create their own happiness. I want everyone at Choice Support to have that. If we celebrate difference, and know that we can learn from each other, we become better.
I want everyone to feel free to speak up when something isn’t fair. I want people to know they will be believed when they share their experiences. I want to make sure that everything we do works for all of us equally. This is much easier if we have a lot of different people contributing to decisions.”
International Women's Day
To celebrate the achievements of women in social care, we asked inspirational women in our organisation to share what they are most proud of.
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Celebrating women
For International Women's day and Women's History month, we asked women in Choice Support to share their achievements and celebrate the women who have inspired them.
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Diversity & Inclusion
Mark Ferry, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief People Officer, is proud to present Choice Support's second report on Diversity and Inclusion.
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