BUILDING THE BRIDGE BETWEEN BUSINESS AND DISABILITY

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. 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

THE 2021 SEASON SO FAR

SMILES & SILVERWARE

Three rounds into the Britcar Championship, we look at the 2021 season so far.

Photo by Steve Borowick

Round 1, April 2021 SILVERSTONE

It all began in April when the season got underway in the most incredible style with round 1 of the Britcar Championship at Silverstone on 24th and 25th April.

Five drivers and three cars made the journey to the UK’s most iconic track for what would be a whirlwind weekend of highs, lows and the most fantastic team effort.

Saturday began with some issues but the crew worked flat out to repair one of the front dampers. Unfortunately, the timetable was brought forward at the last minute so time was short and the car went out for qualifying before the mechanics could fully dial the setup back in. Bobby and Aaron qualified in P11 which became their starting position for the first race of the afternoon. Needless to say, the crew got back to work to finish repairs in time for race 1 and the drivers came in P7, setting their position on the grid for race 2.

With an improved position and spirits lifted, Aaron took the first stint for the final race of the day, putting in an incredible performance before handing over to Bobby in P5. Bobby gave everything he had, bringing the Aston home in P2 and securing the team’s first silverware of the year. Bobby also secured the fastest lap in class!

On Sunday it was the turn of Andrew Tucker, Matty Street and Luke Pound in the BMWs.

In race 1, Matty and Andy put in a brilliant performance to finish in P7, but an incredible effort from Matty in race 2 took them up to P4. Sadly, a technical issue in the pits meant Andy dropped to the back of the grid. He still drove fantastically well, getting the car home in P9.

Luke Pound drove in Class 3 in the BMW 118i, securing fantastic P4 finishes in both races.

To top the weekend off, Matty was named ‘Driver of the Day’ by race organisers.

Snetterton was the venue for a very wet Round 2. A few technical gremlins gave the mechanics plenty to work on for the weekend’s racing, but undeterred, Bobby and Aaron started as they meant to go on. Driving #68, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, they qualified 10th overall, P2 in Class 4. In the afternoon, Bobby and Aaron didn’t let up for a second, holding on to their P2 position and securing the fastest lap in class. Race 2 began as early evening approached but sadly, a spin from Aaron on the slippery first lap sent the pair right back down to last place. However, showing grit and determination, Aaron moved the car up the timing screen to P7. A solid strategy and slick stop from the crew under a safety car then saw Bobby gaining two positions, up to P5, in the pitlane. He fought his way right up the grid and finished P1 at the chequered flag. On Sunday conditions were kinder for the Trophy Category, with drivers Matty Street, Andy Tucker and Luke Pound ready to show what they could do in the BMWs. Matty and Andy drove in Class 1 in #70, the bespoke BMW M240i, with Luke Pound in Class 3 in #71, the BMW 118i. Andy and Matty battled with some technical gremlins to qualify P6 in Class 1. Luke put in an amazing drive, qualifying in P2 in his most impressive performance to date. Race 1 was tough for all drivers, Andy and Matty managed to make up a position, finishing P5 after a P6 start with Luke finishing P5. Race 2 saw Andy and Matty in last place but a textbook drive from Matty saw him skilfully slice his way through the field, making up an incredible 19 places in the first lap, reaching P1 with 20 minutes to go. Andy kept up the battle and brought the car home in P5. Once again, Luke showed the brilliant progress he is making, with a solid, clean and consistent race, coming home in P4.

Round 3, June 2021 OULTON PARK

A smaller Team BRIT contingent took to the track for Round 3. During qualifying on the Saturday morning. EDF Motorsports TCR set an early fast lap, posting such a good time that they parked the car for the rest of session, confident that they had secured the P1 position. Our crew decided to wait until the final minutes before sending out Bobby to push as hard as he could to climb up the timing screen and it paid off. Bobby secured P1 on the grid for both races in the final lap of qualifying by just 9 thousandths of a second! In race one, Bobby was out first, putting in a strong start to hold a good position but an early safety car knocked the strategy off course. In the end, two cars managed to pit right on time – Team BRIT and EDF TCR. A flawless stop gave us the edge we needed. Aaron was sent out for the remainder of the race, back in front of the chasers. The strategy worked - after all the stops were done, Team BRIT was P1 in class, and P2 overall. A monumental stint by Aaron held the position, as he brought the car over the line to an erupting pit wall for the second Team BRIT win in a row. In race 2 the team started from P1 again. Sadly, a mistake under braking resulted in the first DNF in the Aston since the 2019 season. Another fantastic race weekend sees the team sitting P5 overall in the Britcar Endurance Championship, only 7 points behind the leaders on 141 points. Aaron and Bobby are now P2 in Class 4, just 5 points behind P1. Re-scheduling due to Covid meant that only the Endurance Category raced, but the Trophy Category drivers get their own race at Silverstone later in the year.

Team BRIT Founder Dave Player said; “What a great season so far. To be three races in with 100% success in bringing silverware home is just incredible and is testament to the drive and determination of our drivers, but also the unwavering dedication of our crew. “We’ve seen impressive performances from every driver, and each should feel rightly proud. The boost in confidence we’re seeing in our BMW drivers is fantastic and each of them deserves their own silverware soon - I’m confident that they’ll be fighting for the top spot before long.”