 On
the path
to success
A template for success is at the fingertips
of
disabled people thanks to the Disability Times
Trust with funding from ESF.
The London-based Trust’s ‘Pathways for
Disabled People’ project is funded by
ESF under Objective 3 to offer a sixmonth
syllabus. Personal development,
vocational training and work experience
is provided to people with disabilities
with an interest in getting ahead in the
creative and media sector.
Designed in collaboration
with lecturers
from the London College of Printing,
it combines three principal desktop
publishing packages – Quark XPress,
Photoshop and Illustrator – to provide
a comprehensive programme
unavailable elsewhere.
Students can expect to leave not only
with a rounded knowledge of desktop
publishing, but also a portfolio of
published work – a vital asset in
gaining employment.
The project is delivering the goods
according to Objective 3 Project
Payments and Monitoring Officer
Akwasi Mensah, “This is a project that
consistently achieves a high standard
of beneficiary.”
Learning the tools of the
trade– design
class in progress
Three trained tutors with a wealth of
experience in the industry are more
than equipped to give students an
understanding of all aspects of the
medium. And getting them out there
doing what they can then do best is
made all the more easy with an
interactive job search room.
“Students have access to a large network
of PCs, as well as the usual newspapers
and trade journals to support their
jobsearch,” said Trust Manager Ian
Whitehead. “We also have a dedicated
Work Placement Co-ordinator and each
student is assigned an employment
advisor.”
Latest successes on the work placement
front include Penguin Books’ first ever
long-term work placement offer and
an enlightening tour of The Guardian
Newspaper where students met staff
involved in everything from advertising
to design.
Tajinder Ranu is impressed with the
number of contacts he’s made through
the project.
“I joined the course for something to
do,” said Tajinder. “Through it I recently
gained work experience at the Oval
Cricket Ground doing marketing,
website work and writing articles that
were admitted to local press. Avenues
have been opened up to me that I
never considered before.”
And the project offers far more than the
practical skills to get a job. It sees the
emotional development of students as
key to progress.
Each student is assigned a mentor to
support them through the course.
“We look at personal development at the
very beginning of the course, looking at
a number of aspects associated with why
one might not be working and how one
might need to change. In this way we
build up a commitment to the course
and an ethos among students.”
Hanne Olsen had no difficulty keeping
abreast of the technical side of training
on the project but initially found the
social side a struggle.
“I lacked the skills to cope in a social
setting,” said Hanne. “I was insecure
and found it hard to manage my own
feelings. The project is so relaxed
though, with such a supportive
atmosphere that I’ve got though it.”
Now involved in an ongoing work
placement specialising in journalism,
she is confident at her prospects.
”The project has had a significant
impact on my chances of becoming
employed. I know much, much more
than I ever did.”
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ESF Newsletter
