Sammy's Blog - The people I support

Wildlife and Birdcare (WBC) is not just another wildlife habitat manufacturing company.  We are a Not for Profit organisation whose ethos and mission is to tackle the social impact of the decline of nature and the social imbalance of people with autism and learning disabilities who are employed in the UK which currently sits at just 22%, which is shocking! 

I am Sammy CEO and I am autistic myself and find life quite a challenge every single day. I am also registered disabled due to a road accident where my spine was badly damaged and my oesophageal pipe ruptured and so I have difficulties walking, swallowing and concentrating.  My disabilities where added to when I was diagnosed with autism in 2016.  My brain had shut-down with the trauma from the road accident and my injuries I had encountered and my world was such a different and difficult place for me to steer. I was not the person I once was and I had to learn to cope with my own disabilities, differences and red mist meltdowns.  

I do not let my disabilities get the better of me, but they are a challenge on a daily basis.  When I returned to work in 2017 full time, it was hard to have to face all my challenges, differences and cope with the outside world once again.  I had to learn to eat again, I am in constant pain with my spinal injuries and my environment, social skills and confidence had taken quite a blow.  I find it hard to read and concentrate, my brain works faster than my mouth and so I stutter and sometimes cannot speak at all.  I have to eat so slowly my food is always cold and therefore I often don't eat at all.  

But I am an Ex-Solider and believe in if strong is all you have left, then inner strength will get you threw and it has.  Imagine if you are a young person with a learning difference or autism and you are about to leave supported education and the big wide world seems so scary and big! and they are faced with the challenge of writing a CV or attending an interview... most cannot achieve this and even with the support of their families, this is a daunting, scary and almost impossible challenge. 

Last year I started a WORLD of WORK - Work placement programme where in our workshop we take college leavers for one year and teach them work, life and social skills and prepare them to be 'WORK-READY'.  Often simple tasks are a mountain to climb and easy things to others are really tricky.  Hand-eye coordination is a challenge, simple instructions take time to process and being overwhelmed is all too easy.  And so finding ways to cope, manage and progress are slow, little steps to achievement goals and watching my young people grow and blossom is something money cannot buy, for it is magical and a feeling that makes my heart melt. 

Our workshop is an on-the-job skills and learning centre where we teach printing, elementary woodwork, foraging, production line assembly, clothing, soft furnishing manufacturing and greetings card making and combine my skilled workforce with young people with autism and learning disabilities who all help to make our products for shipping to our growing customer base and growing stockist lists.  

We are a training provider who can teach so many work skills to help young people cope with the noise, hustle and bustle of work in our busy, demanding work environment where every day is a deadline.  

Together as a family of supporters, PA's support workers, teaching assistants and us we provide a work based on-the-job training opportunity with the outcome leading to full-time paid employment.

In the 12 months that the college leavers are with us, we engage with local companies who can provide work experiences, job openings and full time employment opportunities and we along with our BUDDY system can support our young people to go onto their chosen career paths, fully supported along the way. 

On this programme there is no need for a CV or Interview, our BUDDY system is a trail situation that if successful, the young person will only realise a difference when they receive their first pay packet.  For us our support is for life, as we welcome back all our young people to visit and stay in-touch and join our membership so we can always be there as a support family group. 

We not only support the young person, but their parents as well, for all of us are like-minded people who welcome a support group to rely on. 

Sadly there is not much available throughout the UK for people who are different and face personally challenges, but my mission is to package my programme, scale it up and franchise it over time.  Other organisations will be able to use our IPR and Brand and do the same in there areas as I am in Stoke on Trent.