Meet Ready, Willing and Able

We have high ambitions

We all have a childhood dream job but for people with disabilities, the dream might just be to have any job.

Studies show that only 3 in 10 people with a learning disability who want to work are in employment. That’s not right and we want to lead the conversation and movement to change it, making sure that everyone has the opportunity to find their dream job.

Ready, Willing and Able is a supported employment programme for people with learning disabilities and autism.

We believe that everyone should be able to work if you want to, no matter your background or ability. Our team supports people on their journey to employment, from start to finish. We support people with disabilities to build new skills, find a job and then keep it - developing a long-lasting and meaningful career.

How it all began

SeeAbility is a social care charity based in the South of England with over 225 years of experience supporting people with learning disabilities, autism and sight loss.

Ready, Willing and Able is a relatively new programme for the charity, but the principles behind it – the right for people with disabilities to do the things they want in life – have been part of our mission since the very beginning.

Our story so far

In the 19th century, the charity was known as The Royal School for the Blind. The first school taught people with sight loss important trades, like basket weaving, to ensure they could be independent. It’s been a long time since we’ve taught anyone to weave a basket, but every day we support people to learn new skills and live a better life.

With recent studies showing that only 6% of people with disabilities were in work, we thought it was time to tackle what is still one of the biggest inequalities facing people with disabilities – the lack of inclusive job opportunities. To begin to tackle this, we launched a pilot of our supported employment programme and in just a couple of years, this developed into the programme that exists today.

We’re a bit different

We’re not a government programme and we’re not aligned with any local councils. That means we have the freedom to be a little different.

Our participants aren’t numbers or targets, they’re people. People who have dream careers and want to try to get there.

We try to support as many people as possible. If you have a learning disability or autism, are over the age of 18 and have a willingness to work, you’ll be welcome.

A lot of other supported employment programmes focus on finding work experience and unpaid internships. But we strongly believe that having a disability shouldn’t mean you have to work for free, so our focus is on finding paid work for the people we support. We will, however, support anybody who wants to learn new skills to do so through short work placements or volunteering, helping them on their journey to employment by gaining valuable experience with the ultimate goal of finding paid work.

The people behind the programme

Ready, Willing and Able is run by a small and mighty team in SeeAbility, working right across the country virtually.

Our supported employment coaches are super friendly and talented. They’re supported by a large network of people who believe firmly in equity, diversity and accessibility. We really do practice what we preach and are happy to share our wisdom with others too.

Meet the team

Are you ready?

If you’re a person with learning disabilities or autism and want to work, get in touch with us by emailing our team at rwa@seeability.org so you can start your journey to employment. We can’t wait to meet you.

If you’re a business who wants help to be more inclusive or think you can employ our participants, we can help you too. Find out more for employers here.

Finally, if you’re just someone who loves inclusion and wants everyone to have the opportunity to work, why not donate to SeeAbility? The funding allows us to provide Ready, Willing and Able’s support to anyone who wants it.