66 per cent of blind and partially sighted people are unemployed, despite being often as well qualified as the general population. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has launched a campaign to work with HR consultants and other key employment professionals to change this.
Hire Vision
RNIB's Hire Vision Campaign invites HR professionals to train as RNIB adjusters, to help them to focus on the positive side of employing blind or partially sighted staff and to learn ways to make a workplace more accessible to disabled people. On October 19 an event to discuss this important issue was held and addressed by the Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, who highlighted how the Government supports disabled people into the workplace.
Justine Duffy, who is 36 and blind, has nine GCSEs, a BTEC National Diploma in Business and Finance and a Bachelors degree in Humanities. Despite being so well qualified, she has struggled to find work. "I find now I am lucky if I even get direct contact with the employer because most companies use recruitment agencies who are ignorant to blind and partially sighted people's abilities. Recruiters need to be shown the ways in which blind and partially sighted people can contribute as well as other employees."
Remploy
Last year Remploy Employment Agencies supported more than 20,000 disabled and disadvantaged people into work. They partner with some of the countries biggest employers, including Marks and Spencer, the NHS, ASDA and Royal Mail.
In his speech, Lord Freud talked about Government schemes that help to rectify the situation including Access to Work, the Work Programme and Work Choice, which helps disabled people with more complex needs and provides consistent, quality support from providers based on their individual needs. He also addressed the places where blind and partially sighted people can go for help and advice, such as Jobcentre Plus and ClearKit.
Lord Freud
Lord Freud said: "The fact that so many blind and partially sighted people are looking for work is a tragedy. Many capable and talented disabled people want to work, and businesses may also be missing out on the perfect employee. Adjustments to enable disabled people to contribute to the workplace do not have to be costly or complicated. They can be as simple as asking people to introduce themselves in meetings. I hope that through RNIB's Hire Vision Campaign this issue can be start to be addressed."
ENDS
For more information please contact Jess Sweetman RNIB's Media Relations Team on 020 7391 2081, email Jessica.sweetman@rnib.org.uk
To catch our media releases as they arrive you can follow RNIB's Media team on Twitter @RNIB_Media
If you would like to find out more information about becoming an RNIB adjuster please call 0207 391 3266 or visit www.rnib.org.uk/hirevision
Notes to editors
About RNIB
Every day around 100 people in the UK start to lose their sight. There are around 2 million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit
www.rnib.org.uk
About Hire Vision
Almost two in every three active job seekers would like to receive help with finding out about current vacancies. Most advertising takes places via the print media, or websites that may be inaccessible to people with sight loss using special computer technology. Also job application forms are seldom made available in accessible formats such as braille, audio or large print.
We are promoting an audio job searching service to enable people with sight loss to find vacancies through Job Seeker Direct.
Find out more