Crystal Peaks joins vital Bents Green School work experience project

Bents Green School provides specialist education for young people aged 11-19 with Autistic Spectrum Conditions and Communication and Interaction difficulties.

The students have gained 12 weeks of valuable experience with the support of Crystal Peaks - including the centre’s British Heart Foundation and St Luke’s Hospice shops - Burton Street Foundation, The Foundation Community Grocery, Blend Kitchen, Gleadless Valley Foodbank and Yes2Ventures.

“Preparation for adulthood is the golden thread woven throughout our curriculum and as part of that, one of the key strands is employment,” said Bents Green Curriculum and Quality Manager for Post-16 Nicola Worth.

“Our programme is designed to support our young people with additional needs to have greater confidence in their abilities, gain awareness of and have choice and control over opportunities that prepare them for adult life and the world of work.

“It enables them to gain skills and connections that could hopefully lead them to long-term meaningful employment.

“The move from being a child to becoming an adult is a significant change for all young people and involves preparing for more independence and making plans for the future.

“For young people with special educational needs or disabilities, this can be a particularly anxious and challenging time which needs more careful preparation and planning than for other young people of a similar age.

“With the right support we hope this can be achieved and we are so pleased that Crystal Peaks and our other supporters in this project were so generous with their time and encouragement.”

Crystal Peaks Centre Manager Lee Greenwood said: “We were delighted to work with Bents Green on what we see as an extremely important education scheme.

“Some of the students, who were all experiencing the workplace for the first time, were able to gain retail insights at our St Luke’s and British Heart Foundation stores while others joined our landscaping, cleaning and maintenance teams.

“The extremely positive feedback is that they all gained valuable experience of the world of work but equally importantly, it also gave Crystal Peaks a valuable knowledge of working with young people with special educational needs or disabilities.

“We certainly look forward to welcoming more Bents Green students in the future.”

For the Crystal Peaks British Heart Foundation shop, the Bents Green students provided important support.

“For the past few months, here at British Heart Foundation Crystal Peaks, we have had the pleasure of having some of the Bents Green students doing their work experience in our store,” said a charity representative.

“The students have been a great asset supporting our Warehouse Operatives with moving and building furniture and creating displays.

“Some students have also worked on the shop floor, serving customers and pricing items.

“All students have had access to manual handling training and grown in confidence and skills and it has been a pleasure working with all the students who brightened our day when in store.”

Leah Smith, the Volunteer Coordinator with St Luke’s Hospice, said: "The students have made a positive impact during their time at the shop and made remarkable progress, gaining confidence and developing new skills.

“They have efficiently contributed to the shop's operations and the feedback from the Crystal Peaks team highlights their valuable contributions.

“Furthermore, there is a need for employers to provide young people with opportunities to gain essential work skills that they can transfer to gain future employment. “

Yes2Ventures, the organisation that creates employment and training opportunities for people who are disadvantaged, welcomed nine Bents Green students to their Neepsend premises for a day of work experience.

“We were not surprised to find that every one of them brought something special to the day and we think we gave them all something to take away from the experience,” said director Mark Powell.

“In small groups, they engaged in woodcraft, screen printing and work discussions and Bents Green staff told us that the activities were relevant and confidence building, with every student achieving something.”

Sabina France, Volunteer Manager with Community Grocery said: “We had four lovely young men come and work with us.

“They did mix of jobs, mainly in our Community Grocery and facilities team, learning how to sort out deliveries and stock shelves in the store, how to reset a big conferencing auditorium after an event, repackage and label stock as well as serving customers in the store.

“They were such a joy to have around, and we will miss having them sit in our café during their lunch break with their hot chocolates.

“We wish them all the very best in the future and hope to see them soon again!”

Debbie Ellis, of Gleadless Valley Foodbank, explained how the Bents Green team had made a valuable contribution.

“The students from Bents Green came in and worked alongside my volunteers sorting and packing the donations,” she said.

“The first time they came there were quite a few nerves showing but from that first week the nerves disappeared, and the students did an outstanding job and we look forward to the next group of students coming to join us.”

Colin Bulmer of the Burton Street Foundation said: “The Burton Street Foundation has greatly enjoyed having four Bents Green students on placement for a number of months.

“They have been a great help to our maintenance team, embarking on DIY, painting walls, power washing tables, gardening, sweeping and brushing.

“For our café team they have helped with food prep, made cakes, salads, served behind the counter, given out cooked food - al