AN Essex partnership has been awarded for helping adults with learning disabilities and autism achieve their dreams of paid employment.

The ECL and East of England Co-op partnership won the Municipal Journal (MJ) Award for Innovation in Building Diversity after helping 16 people secure employment at the retailer.

ECL, the care service provider commissioned by Essex County Council, launched its Inclusive Employment initiative to provide mentoring and training for adults with learning disabilities and/or autism.

It has helped facilitate 11,913 job applications, 1,730 interviews, 420 paid employment outcomes and 253 work trials since launching in 2020.

ECL works closely with the Essex business community, including the East of England Co-op, to show the benefits of hiring the people it supports and encourage inclusive employment.

This involves matching talented individuals with the needs of businesses, creating successful working relationships and providing on-the-job training for as long as needed.

ECL was also shortlisted for the Care and Health Integration MJ Award for its pioneering Ward-led Enablement programme.

The programme focuses on getting older hospital patients moving as soon as possible after treatment, which has been proven to improve recovery time.

Councillor John Spence, Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Integration at Essex County Council, said: “Those with learning disabilities and autism have every right to live independent, fulfilling lives. This can be made possible through their own regular stream of income.

“I’m immensely proud of the work by ECL, as recognised by its success at the MJ Awards, to help people in Essex make the life-changing step into employment while satisfying the needs of local businesses.

“We thank the East of England Co-op for its continued partnership and look forward to working with more organisations across the county on this initiative.”

Emma Young, Inclusive Employment Employer Engagement Lead at ECL, said: “This award celebrates innovation and proves partnerships are pivotal in creating employment opportunities for all.

“Adults with a learning disability and/or autism want to be in paid employment. The East of England Co-op has evidenced this by employing 16 people since our partnership began in July 2022. This is a fantastic achievement for all involved.”

Ashley Symonds, Resourcing Advisor, Talent Acquisition & Development Team at East of England Co-op, said: “We are delighted with the win. We know what we are doing with ECL is making a difference, but it’s great to receive the recognition at such a highly thought of event. It’s a great platform to share what we are doing with other employers and hopefully inspire them to be more inclusive in their recruitment.

“Our partnership with ECL has been a big success from day one. We hired our first candidate within one month of the start of the partnership and now have 16 in employment.

“The fact 70% of candidates put forward achieved permanent paid employment is testament to the quality of talent fostered by ECL and how easy our new simplified recruitment process is to navigate. I look forward to seeing this collaboration develop further in the years ahead.”