Client Success Story: Pure Gym

Wolverhampton Disability Employment Service

Enable Wolverhampton supported four clients – Mel, Desh, Steven and Scott – through the Disability Employment Service into temporary paid employment. The work involved the distribution of promotional leaflets for Pure Gym to homes in Wolverhampton, Penn and Bilston.

Melanie is 33 and is an enthusiastic individual who possesses a wide range of skills gained from previous employment. Her aim was to join an organisation where she could learn new skills whilst building on existing experience. Melanie is not currently receiving support from Wolverhampton Social Services but receives a lot of support from her family. Her learning disability can prevent her from being aware of certain dangers in the community and workplace as she can be quite trusting to people she does not know well.

Desh is 40 and has a learning disability, cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He was receiving five hours outreach support to assist him with accessing activities and services in the community prior to being employed but no longer receives this. Desh requires support with money management, he can communicate well but gets frustrated very easily, which can lead to angry outbursts. When it comes to employment, Desh requires support with time management, learning new routines, health and safety and organising his workload – requiring continued prompts and reminders.

Steven, 57, has a learning disability but does not receive any support from Wolverhampton Social Services. In relation to employment, Steven requires support with time management, learning new routines, travel training, health and safety and organising his workload.

Scott is 27 and has a learning disability and epilepsy but does not receive any support from Social Services. Scott receives a lot of support from his parents in terms of everyday care.  He is involved with Talent Match who provide him with a range of social activities.

Each client worked alongside a Job Coach in their role with Pure Gym to help them to overcome any needs that they had, including identifying the risks associated with leaflet delivery and direction.

All of the Job Coaches said that the group were enthusiastic and committed to the task. All four worked extremely hard and showed good understanding of health and safety aspects of the job. The work was physically demanding and required a lot of team work and excellent people skills.
When asked, three of the four clients said that they had really enjoyed working out in the fresh air. Pure Gym were so impressed with the standard of work that they have offered them more opportunities of paid employment.