BASCULE DISABILITY TRAINING
BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN BUSINESS AND DISABILITY In 2021, Bascule Disability Training became a sponsor of Team BRIT race driver, Andy Tucker. Here we find out more about the social enterprise and how the improvement of disability awareness can benefit a business. Bascule Disability Training is a social enterprise that provides training, support, and guidance for businesses, enabling them to become truly inclusive. Its interactive training packages are designed to empower businesses with an awareness and understanding of disability that will enhance their appeal to employees and clients with disabilities, helping them to reap the rewards of becoming more accessible. Bascule is unique in that its training is user led, meaning it is facilitated by someone with a disability. The organisation is headed up by Managing Director and founder, Chris Jay, who was born with cerebral palsy, and has been a wheelchair user for over 20 years. As well as Bascule’s training facilitator, Chris is a prominent voice and author on the topic of disability. Chris explains, “Many people are completely unaware that ignoring the needs of people with disabilities as potential customers, costs UK businesses a staggering £1.8 billion per month. Bascule was launched to address this by helping businesses and their staff, to become more inclusive, whilst creating a more empathetic and understanding workforce. Research from Scope also revealed that two-thirds of the British public (67%) admit to feeling ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘awkward’ when talking to people with disabilities. Our training considers how that statistic may impact a business or organisation, and what can be done to change it.”
BASCULE’S TRAINING SESSIONS Working with businesses, universities and schools, Bascule’s bespoke workshops ordinarily take place in a physical environment, workplace, or venue, but since the pandemic, most of the interactive training sessions now take place online. Each targeted programme is developed to raise the confidence of staff by removing any barriers that may exist, usually as a result of a lack of training, understanding or knowledge of disability. Delivered in a relaxed, informative and engaging style- Bascule’s training covers issues such as correct use of language, customer service, etiquette, communication, legislation and the development of inclusive business environments.
THE BENEFITS OF AWARENESS Awareness training enables businesses to develop an empathetic and understanding culture, with a view to developing a working environment that welcomes and accommodates new and existing staff with disabilities.
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Chris Jay adds, “Our training encourages staff to understand the needs of people with disabilities, which will not only impact all areas of the business, but also enable any staff that are customer or client facing, to feel more confident in their communications.” “As a business becomes more and more recognised for its commitment to inclusivity, the benefits will inevitably grow. It will begin to appeal to a wider group of talented employees – as 19% of working age adults have disabilities. Furthermore, as all staff become more disability aware, and the business becomes widely perceived as an inclusive organisation, it’s likely that the business’ services will reach the radars of people with a disability.” Bascule’s social purpose As a social enterprise, Bascule Disability Training donates 75% of the profits generated to provide free disability awareness training in state schools. Its training in schools enables pupils of all ages to learn about the needs, challenges and unique life experiences of people with disabilities. Bascule’s aim is to help children to develop positive attitudes towards disability by exploring and understanding disability through interactive games and debates. The awareness days are also comprised of interactive workshops where people with disabilities discuss their lives and answer young people’s questions as well as discussions and activities on bullying – encouraging the children to consider how best to deal with this, as well as participating in teacher led activities, and role play sessions.
PARTNERING WITH TEAM BRIT After discovering Team BRIT, Chris was inspired by what the team were achieving and decided to sponsor race driver Andy Tucker. He said: “The ethos of Team BRIT and specifically Andy’s journey immediately resonated with me. To work with Team BRIT seemed like a natural progression, and a relationship between Bascule and the team fits perfectly well. Unlike nearly all other competitive sports, Team BRIT race drivers compete against teams of able-bodied drivers, which is a wonderful example of equal opportunity. It’s an honour for Bascule to support Andy during this exciting year.” If you are interested in Bascule’s training programmes, or would like to book an online training session, head to the website to find out more: www.bascule.com
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