Propel
In Partnership with The Oaks Specialist College, The Mason Foundation has developed Propel to support Young People aged 13 – 25, living with learning disabilities or who are neurodivergent to flourish within a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Around 950,000 adults and 300,000 children in England have a learning disability, yet only 4.8% of adults with learning disabilities aged 18-64 are in paid employment[1].
1 in 7 people in the UK are neurodivergent, yet ONS data from 2022 shows that only 22% of autistic adults are in employment, despite a much higher percentage of autistic adults highlighting that they would like to work.
Propel aims to address these shocking statistics, supporting education and youth settings to empower their young people, as well as providing training and implementation support of Propel Principles to businesses and local employers.
Acting as a conduit between education and youth settings and prospective employers, Propel is creating communities of inclusion, supporting the development of vocational opportunities for young people with the aim of securing paid employment.
Propel takes a multifaceted approach to employability, working with a number of partners to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Education and Community Youth Settings
The Mason Foundation provides a one-day, CPD accredited workshop to create a team of Propel Education Mentors. Aligned to the GATSBY benchmarks, the Propel toolkit empowers teaching and support staff to take a different, person-centred approach to the vocational development of students and young people.
Facilitated by The Mason Foundation and drawing on personal and professional experiences, mentors work collaboratively to develop and identify tools and strategies to support their young people, aiming to reduce the prevalence of NEET and provide a holistic and tailored programme of employability skills. Through Propel, The Mason Foundation can provide each school or youth setting:
- CPD accredited training for 3 – 12 Propel Education Mentors
- Follow on support for a period of 12 months to successfully embed the programme
- Delivery of student workshops, covering a variety of subjects, including:
- Aims and Aspirations
- CV creation
- Interview Skills
- Hosting of a ‘Reverse Jobs Fair’ to showcase skills of students and introduce them to work opportunities.
- Facilitate introductions to local and national businesses who have undertaken Propel.
- Coordination of career talks from Propel Workplace Mentors.
- Supports the creation of inclusive work experience opportunities.
For Small and Medium Businesses
The Mason Foundation provides a one-day, CPD accredited workshop for employees to create Propel Workplace Mentors. Working collaboratively with the business, we identify and develop opportunities for the workplace to support the vocational development and employment opportunities for young people who are neurodivergent or have additional learning needs in their community.
Many Propel Workplace Mentors have reflected on their own experiences of supporting friends and family during the workshop, and we encourage these conversations in a safe and supportive environment, linking all conversations back to creating and sustaining inclusive and welcoming workplaces.
Including Propel Principles in your business isn’t just the right thing to do, it also makes commercial sense, with 92% of consumers feeling more favourable towards companies that hired people with disabilities and 87% specifically agreeing that they prefer to give their business to companies that hire people with disabilities.
Becoming a Propel Workplace provides:
- CPD accredited training for 3 – 12 workplace Mentors, focusing on:
- Understanding Learning Disabilities
- Understanding Neurodivergence
- Introduction to services such as: Access to Work, Disability Confident, Nimbus Access Card
- Follow on support for a period of 12 months to successfully embed the programme
- Support Mentors to provide ‘Career Talks’ at local education and community settings, inspiring young people to enter your industry
- Facilitate introductions to Propel Education and Community settings.
- Supporting the creation of inclusive work experience opportunities.
- Supports the business to develop inclusive job adverts.
- Support for businesses to sign up to Disability Confident.
- Opportunities to showcase your inclusive workplace to a national audience.
Larger National and International Businesses
Our partner organisation, Mason Consulting, delivers Propel to corporate clients, offering a range of opportunities to promote inclusion in your workplace.
Mason Consulting directs all profits made through Propel sales back into The Mason Foundation, allowing us to continue our work with communities, so you can feel really good about that investment! We can even provide case studies and social value figures for you to showcase!
If you want to know more about Propel – please visit Propel People
Training Feedback
- NPS Score of 64
- On average our training is rated 5 out 5 from delegates.
- 99% of delegates responded that after the training, they feel they have the skills, knowledge, and know how on how to implement Propel.
“I enjoyed how we were able to get involved in the activities and it wasn’t just listening for the whole training”
“It was a great day of learning in a positive environment”
“I thought it was very comprehensive all round. Although the Lego activity was probably the most enjoyable part as it involved thinking in quite an abstract way.”