Aspirations for Life poster launch

David poses with the new poster at Waterloo.

Learning disability campaign Aspirations for Life launched new awareness-raising posters at London’s Waterloo station yesterday.

Endorsed by Network Rail, the poster campaign highlights Aspirations for Life’s key message – that people with learning disabilities can really thrive and succeed in employment.

The Aspirations for Life website focuses on employment, and part of this involves reaching out to employers around the country. The new poster campaign seeks to grab the attention of more employers.

The Aspirations for Life team say that the sooner an employer can engage with their nearest specialist support agency or college to ensure they meet the needs of employees with learning disabilities, the better. Companies are being encouraged to take on young people with learning disabilities for work placements, with a view to turning this into a job further down the line.

23-year-old David Mason joined Network Rail on placement while he was still at school. Today, he’s a permanent employee with the company. The transport giants have seen first-hand how beneficial employment can be for people with learning disabilities and that it can benefit the company too.

At the poster launch, Network Rail’s Robin Gisby, managing director for network operations, said: “Learning disabilities are not a barrier to taking a full and active part in everyday life, which includes working for large, national organisations like Network Rail.

“As a company, we are looking for committed, professional and dedicated employees and David, who first started working for us during placements when he was at school, has all of these qualities and many more. By taking part in campaigns like Aspirations for Life, we can connect with similar people and help them develop while they help to improve the railway for millions of passengers across Britain.”

David commented: “I think that Network Rail were quite brave to take me on but now I think that quite honestly they couldn’t do without me! I have made lots of new friends during my network rail employment and I would like to thank my work colleagues for making me feel so welcome.”

To find out more about Aspirations for Life, head to aspirationsforlife.org.

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