Newlife has been awarded a £10,000 National Lottery Community Fund grant to help disabled adults in the region develop the skills needed for employment.
Newlife, whose headquarters are in Cannock, aims to help some of the 65,000 disabled people out of work in local community, including the Stafford and Walsall areas, who want to gain the kind of skills employers look for through the project called Don’t Stop Me Now.
Volunteers of all abilities can apply to take part in the project which will see them involved in the preparation of high street stock donated to Newlife, such as de-labelling clothes, sorting jewellery and processing household items, which are then sold to help fund specialist equipment for disabled and terminally ill children.
Members of the Don’t Stop Me Now team will work with each volunteer over six months to help them identify their particular needs and achieve their goals, while working with other organisations to secure either paid employment or long-term volunteer placements.
Kevin Lowe, Newlife’s National Volunteer Manager, said: “The award from the National Lottery Community Fund for Don’t Stop Me Now is really exciting for us. Newlife is well known in the area for providing equipment for disabled children – but now we have the chance to really help disabled adults too.
“Volunteers from all walks of life regularly donate hours to Newlife and play a major role in our work to help disabled and terminally ill children, but through Don’t Stop Me Now we can use our knowledge and expertise to help adults with disabilities and ill health issues gain practical workplace skills and boost their confidence.
“We already work closely with local disability support organisations such as Mencap, nearby colleges and job centres, and are seeing a very high referral rate of those they feel would benefit from volunteering with us. The lottery funding means an extra 45 volunteers with disabilities can now receive help and support over the coming year which is targeted specifically to help them meet their own goals and fulfil their true potential.
“It’s a great opportunity which can really help boost their long-term quality of life!”
For more information about Don’t Stop Me Now call Kevin Lowe on 01543 439 927.
