Gateway members involved in the Gateway to Work project are getting together each month to share ideas about work, talk about their experience of the project, and help give the project some direction. Our first meeting was at the Wild Bytes cafe in Darlington Street in Wolverhampton on 17 November.
This audio blog starts with Hayley telling us about how the project had helped her come up with a plan to carry on with her voluntary work while she looks for a paid job and her thoughts on why it is important that people with disabilities should be able to work.
Emma talks about how the project has been good for her by helping her feel more independent and supporting her to get a job as a volunteer tutor with Cecile her Adult Education cooking tutor. Emma also says we ought to let more people know about Gateway to Work by getting Andy as a spokesperson to talk with and on behalf of other Gateway members , by making the blog more accessible, and by putting out a project newsletter.
Andy tells us about his new job as a Director for Goodlife and how this means he can get involved and support gateway members and getting involved in the Project Partnership meetings with Mencap.