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by Dr David Etheridge, Principal of Finchale  Training  College

Finchale Training College is often referred to as one of the North East’s ‘best kept secrets’.  Whilst this may be an eloquent comment about the effectiveness of our publicity, a more likely reason is the lack of awareness amongst the public and the business community of another best kept secret – the employment potential of unemployed disabled adults. 

Finchale works with those people who are often seen as being furthest from the labour market, not because they are incapable of work, but because they have more cards stacked against them than most jobseekers. 

Long-term unemployment can lead to economic and social disadvantage, whether that presents itself in additional disabilities such as depression and anxiety, or a wide variety of disabling life experiences, such as homelessness, debt, family difficulties, drug and alcohol abuse or offending behaviour.  

Everyone is different.  Many of our candidates will have worked, the average age being 38 years old, before experiencing a disability that has led to unemployment.    For others unemployment will have brought with it depression and health problems.  Some will never have worked and others will have a disability, such as dyslexia, which, because it has not been addressed, has made those individuals vulnerable in the employment market. 

Our candidates include ex-nurses, managers, civil servants, construction site workers, and sole traders.  What they all have in common is that most persistent barrier to work created by unemployment - the disabling effects of lack of self-confidence and the feeling that you have ‘failed’ both yourself and those close to you. 

Self-respect comes from contributing to society and, even in the midst of a recession, employment is still seen as the defining attribute of a citizen.  Our job is to help our candidates regain that self-confidence through addressing individual barriers as part of a single customised and individual programme delivered either on our main site in Durham, or  in the community close to their future employment.

So why are we and our candidates such a well-kept secret?  It may be because the usual perception of a disabled person is of a wheel-chair user or somebody in the community with special educational needs. 

The reality is that these individuals form a small minority amongst a much larger and more diverse population.  Most disabled adults do not look or act differently to their non-disabled peers and do not draw attention to the fact that they have experienced barriers to employment in their past. 

Once in employment our candidates have a better sickness and attendance record than the majority of the population and will have all the personal and occupational skills needed to do the job - and do it well. 

Significantly, in the last six months we have run two special recruitment programmes for ASDA and one for Debenham’s.  Sixty-seven per cent  of disabled candidates were accepted for employment, a percentage five times higher than their non-disabled counterparts.  And this is replicated across other government programmes for the long-term unemployed where our candidates are at least twice as likely to achieve employment across a wide range of sectors, from accountancy to horticulture.  Why?  Because they had the motivation and commitment that often comes from people who know what it is like to be condemned to benefit dependency and unemployment.

Finchale is a national training provider, each year helping in excess of 300 trainees from around the country.  Our candidates want, and deserve, to be accepted as economic and social equals.  There are significant financial incentives to businesses to employ our candidates, but the most important incentive of all is that you will acquire an employee who is not only able to do the job, but also has the personal, social and occupational skills needed to do that job well and can help to grow the business.  The value of mature disabled candidates is that they have untapped talents and experiences that bring with them potential for the future.      

Thirty per cent of our staff are classed as being disabled.  If you are an employer, I would encourage you to look again at this pool of untapped talent the next time you are recruiting – you will be delighted by what you discover.