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On 24th and 25th September we were on the road in Ebbw Vale and Carmarthen with our Engage to Change Roadshows, two inspiring local events bringing together project participants, partners, parents and carers, employers, third sector organisations,  and more.

Torrential rain on the first day did not dampen the impact of hearing from the project’s young people, employers, ambassadors, parents, and partners about their experiences of the Engage To Change project at the Ebbw Vale Institute. The next morning we once again welcomed a brilliant and engaged audience, this time in Carmarthen at the Halliwell Centre.

We hope our attendees found the event to be a valuable opportunity to learn more about how Engage To Change is supporting young people with learning disabilities and/or autism into employment in the local area and across Wales. It was great to see so many stay on to chat to the team during the networking session over tea, cakes and biscuits.

Take a look at @engage_2_change on Twitter for tweets from the shows highlighting our speakers – from The Entertainer, to parents of participants, to ambassadors Gerraint and Michael, to partners Learning Disability Wales, All Wales People First and ELITE Supported Employment.

While we often showcase the positive progress of young people on the project, another aspect of Engage to Change’s work that came through strongly over the two days was the support we can provide to employers to alter their practices and change their attitudes towards employing people with a learning disability and/or autism. Many of the speakers emphasised the importance of this behaviour change and how employers who have embraced different ways of doing things have reaped the benefits alongside their employees.

Thank you to all our speakers and attendees over the two days, we look forward to working with you all to continue to diversify the workforce in Wales.