News

Category: Employers

Shaw Trust wins two Connect to Work contracts worth £36.4 million

04/12/2025

We’re proud to share that Shaw Trust has secured two Connect to Work contracts in Essex and the West Midlands, helping to deliver services worth £36.4 million in the next five years. The contracts have been commissioned by Essex County Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).  Connect to Work supports people with disabilities, health conditions and other disadvantages to find and stay in work. People on the programme get

Image shows four people standing on the ERSA stage smiling. They are dressed smartly and at the back of the stage, the finalist's names are projected onto a screen.

Shaw Trust recognised in two award wins at the ERSA Employability Awards

28/11/2025

At this year’s ERSA awards, Shaw Trust was shortlisted for a record-breaking four nominations, and won two: Won: ‘Outstanding Contribution’, for our Chief Commercial Officer, Richard Clifton. Won: ‘Employer Partnership’, for our work with facilities management service, OCS Group. Shortlisted: ‘Partnership and Collaboration’, for our Live Well Kent and Medway support. Shortlisted: ‘Outstanding Participant’, for Jamie Walker, a Kent local supported by IPS. The Employment Related Services Association (ERSA) awards are held every year and celebrate the organisations and people

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Developing regional recruitment activity with OCS  

12/04/2024

We’re continuing to develop and explore opportunities for regional recruitment activity with OCS. This work will support the wider partnership agreement with National Accounts and the OCS People Into Work team.Several of our Birmingham employability programmes have been working closely with regional OCS managers to successfully recruit roles at the NEC and other city venues. By collaborating and working together we’ve created inclusive recruitment pathways for stewards, security staff and venue cleaners.The regional OCS managers have been fantastic advocates for

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Neurodiversity Celebration Week with our Tesco partners

10/04/2024

During this year’s Neurodiversity Celebration Week, we met with Tesco colleagues to discuss our ongoing partnership work. Shaw Trust colleagues attended Tesco’s Head Office Neurodiversity Celebration event – meeting Tesco colleagues from various locations.We also connected virtually with Tesco staff unable to attend on the day. This follow-up session focused on sharing best practices for hiring and supporting neurodivergent employees within Tesco.What else have we been up to with Tesco?In October 2023, we saw 63 colleagues join a work placement

An image of the leonardo hotels logo and the WLA logo

Sharing our expertise with our WLA partners Leonardo Hotels

10/04/2024

We value being collaborative and sharing knowledge – and we love when our partners are on the same page.Our partner, Leonardo Hotels, spent March raising awareness about disability. Using our expertise, Shaw Trust contributed by presenting to Leonardo Hotels staff.Our team from the SES West London Alliance presented to the Leonardo Hotels London Cluster about how their teams can better support guests with disabilities or health conditions.The focus of this session was primarily on the support that Shaw Trust can

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Are you missing out on talent?

20/01/2023

There is a huge pool of talent you are almost certainly overlooking. Unemployment is rising, while vacancies remain unfilled. Meanwhile this pool of talent could be driving your organisations and businesses forward. There are 16million disabled people in the UK, according to the DWP. The disability employment rate was 53.6% in Q2 2023, compared to 82.5% for non-disabled people. Yet 6 in 10 graduates with a visual impairment are not in full-time employment, and only 1 in 3 autistic graduates is in work.  And