DCU Ability students at Applegreen in Santry

DCU Ability partners with Applegreen and the Irish Wheelchair Association to increase awareness of disability in Ireland

03/12/2020

DCU Ability, Applegreen and the Irish Wheelchair Association have worked together to create a simple 20 minute eLearning module for Applegreen staff to increase their awareness around disability and to facilitate the successful placement of DCU Ability students on work experience placements on Applegreen sites.

DCU Ability aims to enable young people with disabilities to gain work based skills and experience to move them closer to employment with the ultimate ambition of gaining employment. Offering structured training programmes, work experience and reflective learning review as well as longer term support and career mentoring, they work with a number of employers to provide work experience placements.

This project developed from their existing relationship with Applegreen where they have had a number of work placements in Santry, close to Dublin City University.

The Disability Awareness training was developed by IWA and DCU to encourage employers to employ people with disabilities by increasing awareness of disability in the workplace. It answered a lot of questions typically raised during work experience placements and provided employees with a safe environment to ask questions.

The objectives of the project are fourfold

To provide employers with a tool to support inclusion
To increase awareness of disability (medical and social models)
To help employees to be more confident when interacting with a person with a disability
And to help employees and the company as a whole be open to considering disability as an ability that will add to their business

The initiative is being launched today, December 3rd, International Day of Disabled Persons 2020.

Dr. Toff Andersen, DCU Ability Programme & Project Manager said

“It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with such an inclusive employer as Applegreen who have provided valuable work experience placements for our students on the DCU Ability course.

Working with IWA allowed us to create a simple and effective way of increasing awareness about disabilities in the workplace for all as they provide highly regarded disability awareness training for employers. This project has been a collaborative success that’s been built on employee feedback.”

Jean Marten, Head of Human Resources at Applegreen said

“Applegreen has worked with the DCU Ability team for a number of years. They have supported us with candidate search, in job placement and employer support material.

The partnership made it easy for us to adapt our working environment to accommodate different abilities and I think it has helped us all think differently.

This latest project, which will raise awareness of disability with all of our colleagues shows Applegreen’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.”

Martin Kelly, Operational Training Team Lead & National Trainer, Irish Wheelchair Association said

“The DCU Ability team approached us about this project as they knew we ran the accredited day courses for disability awareness. Once we started talking about scenarios in the workplace with Applegreen, we quickly had good idea of what was needed.

This is just a 20 minute session but is it interactive and really informative, helping to increase disability awareness amongst Applegreen’s staff.”

About

DCU Ability promotes the employability of young people (eighteen to twenty-nine) with disabilities to gain the skills, competencies and experiences needed to be career-ready, by creating meaningful and tailored pathways into education, training and work placements, using a person-centred approach.

They offer structured training programmes, work experience and reflective learning review as well as longer term support and career mentoring. They work in partnership with organisations such as St Michael’s House and other service providers to harness our joint expertise, resources and facilities to address barriers to employment. DCU Ability is co-financed by the Irish Government and the European Social Fund as part of the ESF Programme for Employability, Inclusion and Learning 2014 – 2020.

Applegreen opened its first service station in Ballyfermot, West Dublin in 1992. From there, under the stewardship of CEO Bob Etchingham and COO Joe Barrett, Applegreen expanded in Ireland, growing year on year. It operates 472 forecourt sites and employs more than 10,000 people across Ireland, UK and the United States. Applegreen is still under the guardianship of Bob and Joe and supported by their dedicated team in their headquarters in Dublin. Currently there are 193 Applegreen locations in Ireland.

Irish Wheelchair Association (IWA) works with, and on behalf of, people with physical disabilities to drive positive change in Ireland through the influencing of public policy, the provision of quality services and enabling accessibility to all aspects of society. They advocate for the needs of people with physical disabilities and provide services and support to over 20,000 members in their homes and communities throughout Ireland every year.

The IWA also provides more in depth disability awareness training for employers.

Note: this photograph was taken pre-COVID-19.