Every week we speak to people who work in professions in the City alongside a disability or long term health condition. We know the challenges they face, and we hear how a wide variety of different employers and institutions accommodate their differences. We hear stories that are both good and bad, and we know the range of responses and attitudes that our mentors and mentees face every day.

This gives us a unique insight into what it is really like to work in the City with a disability, and we would like to share that insight as widely as we can. We work with employers, places of learning, trade organisations and not for profit groups to help create a better environment for people with disabilities.

All our services are free of charge (and we will not ask for a donation to the charity either). Here are some of the services we offer:

Talks for employers

We have given talks at City law firms, the Lord Mayor’s Diversity Breakfasts, FTSE 100 companies, Chartered Institutes and not for profit groups, to name a few. Subjects have included:

• The psychology of prejudice, and how we can understand our own prejudice, and “relearn” how we view people with disabilities.
• The etiquette of working alongside colleagues with disabilities.
• What City Disabilities does, and how we can work with you to improve your environment.
• Disability as a “desirable disadvantage”.
• Are you revealing more than you realise? Why disability recruitment policies so often fail.

We are also happy to create a new talk on a topic you are interested in, if that would be helpful.

Q&A Panel Events

We are happy to take part in Q&A events, so that interested colleagues, HR professionals, line managers and others can discuss issues and concerns in an open and non-judgmental environment. We have taken part in many of these events, whether it be a round table talk with questions, a “lunch and learn” or as part of a panel of speakers.

We can tell you what our many mentors and mentees tell us about living and working in London with a disability. We can answer your questions about recruitment, retention, policy development, attracting talent, and making sure you get the best out of your employees. We can give you a general sense of how workers with disabilities currently feel, alongside some practical “do’s and don’ts”, and we can help you to develop training for managers and diversity and inclusion policies.

Talks at places of learning

We have taken part in training days for staff, careers weeks for students and one-off events aimed at students with disabilities. We are happy to come and talk to any place of learning, and topics we have covered in the past include:

• Should I “disclose” my disability to a prospective employer, and if so, how?
• How can I do my best at interview when discussing my disability?
• How should I expect to be treated in the workplace and what can I do if I am unhappy?

Policy Development

We are happy to contribute to policy development at your place of employment or learning. In particular we are often asked whether the current approach to recruitment, training and retention is really working, and we have particular insights into that topic via the many different experiences of our mentees.