This year, we are joining Enable Scotland in celebrating 70 years of their work for an equal society where everyone has the right to live, work and participate as active and respected citizens in the communities of their choice.
Enable was born in 1954, when five sets of parents of children with intellectual disabilities met in Glasgow to share their experiences, and to support each other in challenging society’s attitudes towards their children.
The 70 years since then have seen a rich history of working together to improve lives of people with intellectual disabilities, and of campaigning for better laws and policies to protect and fulfil their rights.
From the very beginning, Enable was also involved in building strong international networks: For example, Inclusion Europe was established during a meeting in Scotland in 1988, and Enable is one of the founding members.
Today, Enable delivers human rights-driven self-directed social care and employment opportunities, and builds inclusive communities.
Enable Cares
Enable Cares provides human rights-driven self-directed social care for more than 1,100 people across 27 local authority areas in Scotland. It is based on the “PA model”, recognised among the leading approaches in the sector.
*“ENABLE Scotland: Best practice in enabling the recruitment of personal assistants * *ENABLE Group provides self-directed health and social care to people in Scotland, through the PA model. ENABLE supports individuals in planning and designing the services they want, so that they can build their own bespoke team of PAs. * *”The CEO of ENABLE Theresa Shearer told us that the main barrier to implementing a PA scheme is the lack of confidence that individuals and families have when it comes to being a recruiter and an employer. The organisation therefore runs an internal recruitment agency that facilitates the recruitment and onboarding processes for PAs. The agency works to people’s demands and criteria to ensure that the personal assistants hired are tailored to each individual’s needs. * *”In parallel, the agency ensures that it attracts the right people into the profession. Individuals are recruited for their values and experiences, but not necessarily their social care experience. The emphasis is placed on their soft skills. ENABLE also pays PAs more than the Scottish living wage. According to Theresa Shearer, one-third of the organisation’s workforce earns between £11 and £12 an hour. * “ENABLE’s model, therefore, ensures that older adults and disabled people can recruit PAs that are right for their individual needs, without worrying about the recruitment process or human resources-related challenges. It also means that those joining the recruitment agency are driven by the right motivations, and that they have the appropriate soft skills to be a PA. This in turn enables personal assistance to become more attractive as a profession.” Gloriously ordinary life
Enable Works
Enable Works serves people who are facing barriers to employment to obtain and sustain high quality and rewarding careers. It is a variety of work programmes, training and resources to help jobseekers with intellectual disabilities. The programme also helps employers looking to benefit from hiring a more diverse workforce.
Breaking Barriers programme, which is part of Enable Works, enables young people who have barriers to education and employment to attend a world-class business school. It helps them achieve an accredited qualification and gain real work with some of Scotland’s highest profile corporate employers.
Since 2018, Breaking Barriers has been consistently providing young people with invaluable routes into employment. In recent years 90% of all our Breaking Barriers graduates have gone onto to secure employment or further education and training opportunities. The programme is led by Enable Works in partnership with the University of Strathclyde Business School, ScottishPower and STV.
Enable Communities
Enable Communities is a programme that helps people to build and grow supportive local friendships and networks, where everyone is included. This means work within communities so that everyone is empowered to contribute as friends, neighbours, employees, customers – and be respected as equal citizens.
“I know how important it is to be in control of your own life – I had to fight for a long time to make that a reality for myself. I turned that experience into a business, and I enjoy helping other people to access their rights to self-directed support. When it came to my own support, I knew that Enable were going to be the place for me. I am in the driving seat – choosing my team of PAs and helping to advertise for them, what hours I want to be supported, what I want to be supported to do – and what I don’t!”
Danielle – entrepreneur, activist and community leader
Campaigns
Enable campaigns for full rights and inclusion of intellectual disabilities.
My own front door campaign called on the Scottish government to secure the human rights of every person inappropriately detained in hospital or living out of their own area. In response, the Scottish Government and COSLA committed to ending this practice by March 2024.
Rights now! Campaign calls on the Scottish government to seize an “historic” chance to protect the rights of people with learning disabilities in new legislation.
The work of Enable is led by people with intellectual disabilities and their family members. Rights-driven approach is crucial in delivering Enable’s programmes and campaigns.
“It’s everyone’s human right to live in a home of their choice, in a community they choose, close to the people they love.”
Europe in Action
As you can see, there is plenty to explore in Enable’s work as they celebrate their 70th anniversary. Which makes us so exited to have our next Europe in Action conference in Glasgow this May!
Those attending can go deeper into how Enable’s programmes work. Learn about campaigns and advocacy. And of course, share your own experiences and views on the work being done for full rights and inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
Register here and be part of this memorable event.
“Having control over our own life is very important. We must have a say about support provided to us.”
Andrew Doyle, EPSA chair from 2006
Coming up next: Countries and members developing self-advocacy, another strong part of the conference programme.
Pictures: From Enable Twitter and website.