Trust’s scheme on a roll after £50k boost (From Gazette & Herald)

Wilf Ward Family Trust’s scheme on a roll after £50k boost

2:30pm Wednesday 27th June 2012 in News By Karen Darley

An INNOVATIVE scheme aimed at providing key social and employment skills to people with learning disabilities in Ryedale has won major financial backing from North Yorkshire County Council.

The council will provide £50,000 over two years to The Wilf Ward Family Trust to help pay for Roll With It, a sandwich delivery business in the Pickering and Kirkbymoorside area which will provide employment opportunities for up to eleven people with learning disabilities.

County Councillor Clare Wood, executive member for adult social care, said: “This is a marvellous example of how collaboration between the county council and the voluntary sector is producing imaginative and innovative ways of making a real difference to people’s lives.

“Roll With It will give people the opportunity to learn through experience about the running of a business, catering, customer service, and social skills, through meaningful work experience.”

Based at premises currently being redeveloped by The Wilf Ward Family Trust in Vivis Lane, Pickering, Roll With It will provide training and learning opportunities both on the sandwich round and in the café where the food will be prepared.

It will provide high-quality sandwiches, snacks and cakes to local factories and offices, while at the same time offering a wide range of training – including basic food hygiene and hospitality qualifications.

Richard Pick, chief executive of the trust, said: “We are committed to enabling people with disabilities to get a foothold on the ladder of employment, which in the current economic climate is often very difficult. We are pleased the county council has supported the initiative”.

The grant for the scheme is being made from the county council’s Innovations Fund, which is allocating £1.6m over three years to voluntary organisations to change the way adult social care is delivered. Its primary aim is to develop more flexible and personalised services which fit in better with people’s needs and where they live.

Twelve organisations are benefiting from grants in this, the second round of allocations.

l A group from The Wilf Ward Family Trust enjoyed a trip out on The North Yorkshire Moors Railway courtesy of Pickering Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club organised for service users and support staff to have a day out on the railway and enjoy lunch in a Pullman dining car.

Three Rotarians, John Fields, Drew Haigh and Phil Fletcher, volunteered as stewards to help ensure the day went smoothly.