I hope residents of Stockport and surrounding areas had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year. At a time of year where we all set ourselves goals and resolutions, one of my personal aims for the new year is to provide further help to members of our community with disabilities.
Whilst it is right that we provide the necessary support for disabled people through both the welfare system and charity work, it is also imported that those who want to are not excluded from the world of work, and are free to enjoy the satisfaction that having a job can bring.
That is why one of the events I am most looking forward to in 2016 will be hosting a Disability Confident Jobs Fair, in the Hazel Grove Constituency, later in the year. I will be organising this in conjunction with local Job Centres, local charities, and with support from the Government’s Disability Confident Scheme.
Disability Confident is now in its third year and is working to make a real difference in encouraging businesses up and down the country to adopt more inclusive working practices and recognise the value of employing disabled people. Challenging negative attitudes and increasing disability employment is an ambition I believe we should all support. To meet this challenge it is essential that we create momentum at a local level, with employers, disabled people and in the wider community.
I shall be announcing plans for the Hazel Grove Disability Confident jobs fair in local papers and my website www.williamwragg.org in the coming months.