E2C Lead Ambassador Blog March 2023

10th March

On the 10th of March, Engage to Change project manager Angela Kenvyn asked me to attend an online meeting with project partners in further discussion with DFN project SEARCH CEO Claire Cookson and project partners on the new internship programme in England called “Internships Work”.

28th March

Kurtis Marshall from Vale People First and I co-produced a job coaching film with the National Centre for Mental Health along with Andrea Meek and Dr Elisa Vigna who are the co-researchers for the project. The film highlights the importance of a job coach and how specific the role is. For example, it’s nothing like a youth worker. Kurtis portrayed an interviewer and I portrayed a job coach, the filming is currently being edited and hopefully, the film won’t be too long so watch this space!

12th April

Andrea Meek, Angela Kenvyn and I presented the project findings on how many young people we have employed through Engage to Change. We presented these findings to Caerphilly County Borough Council Young Peoples Engagement and Progression Team chaired by John Poyner who is the young people’s Engagement and Progression Co-ordinator.

19th April

Dr Elisa Vigna and I spoke at the Workforce Health in Wales event hosted by Public Health Wales, we spoke about the project findings, statistics and figures on where the project has achieved over
the last 7 years.

25th April

Zoe Richards, Learning Disability Wales Chief Executive Officer and I attended the Welsh Government Disability Taskforce, Employment and Income Working Group. In a breakout group, we discussed the
importance of job coach support and Access to Work. We also heard feedback from another breakout group about the Disability Confident scheme.

Exciting news

We are working with a production company to produce a legacy video to inform young people, their families and people that work with them about the different pathways to gaining paid employment. The video will feature me and some participants who have gained employment through the Engage to Change project.