The Right to Work Team
Louise Macmillan. And I'm Michael Kennett. The Right to Works work program is a work orientated program here at Staunton Country Park. And it's to do with people with learning disabilities.
The basis of what we do is people who want to work, are able to work, but just need a bit of support to do that, come to us, because we believe that they're all capable of performing brilliantly - and prove that every single day that they're here,
I'm a team leader here on, on a Monday when I come in and I do various jobs around Staunton Country Park. Like it could be anything up to taking a group out litterpicking around the farm yard areas, sometimes around the walkways, around the actual park itself. And we also do planting - lots of different varieties of plants that we all plant up ourselves and sell on to the public eventually.
So the plants that we grow, they get sold at the shop over in the farm. And so everything that's sold there - and we sell vegetables as well - so everything that's sold there is grown by the Right to Work team, and all the guys who do a fantastic job.
What I have to do to make the team work is when everybody comes in in the morning, I've got to make sure they've got all their safety gear, from high vis jackets through to gloves and safety boots and things. And then just to make sure everybody understands what they're doing and where they're going for the day.
I mean, the team leaders have a really unusual role. At the Right to Work, 50% of the staff team have a learning disability. So Mike is one of those team leaders, and we'd be lost without them. They are a second pair of eyes for us all the time. They'll pick us up when we get things wrong or come up with better ideas of how to do things. So they're, they're a real asset to the Right to Work.
I feel really honoured and privileged to be able to be part of the team here at Staunton and the Right to Work. Because, you know, this is the first job I've ever done. And I never thought I'd actually get to be a team leader and so it's actually, you know, it makes me feel really pleased and happy. Before I came here, I was lacking self-confidence … I wasn't sure if I was able to actually be able to fit in with the job and fit in with people in general. But being at the Right to Work has really made me confident, and I'm absolutely privileged for it.
And that's one of the most amazing things about what we do. People come to us who often in life, unfortunately, assumptions have been made that not an awful lot will be achieved. And we just set out to prove that everybody can do everything. We find a way - it may not be the way everybody else does it - but there is always a way for that work to get done. And it's all meaningful work. It's work we have to do to support our partnership with Staunton. And basically anything Staunton would need us to do, we'll always say, “Yep”, we'll roll our sleeves up, and there we go. So we feel part of the Staunton team.
Behind the scenes at Staunton Country Park is a remarkable group of workers organised by the Right to Work group. This was set up to provide opportunities for people with learning disabilities to find meaningful employment in the marketplace, rather than being placed in permanent day care.
The Right to Work team are thoroughly embedded in the park's day-to-day operations, performing a wide variety of vital tasks under their own team leaders.
We interviewed Mike, one of the Team Leaders, and Louise, one of the administrators, to find out what the scheme had achieved.
To find out more, visit the Right to Work website
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