Valued members of our team
Have you ever bumped into any Philip James members of staff out of the office, just out and about? Would you recognise them out of the office? Well, there are two members of our team you may not know so well; Andrew Briscoe and Mark Baines work for our Heaton Moor branch delivering leaflets each week. You might ask “Why is that important?” but Andrew and Mark both have learning difficulties; Andrew (40) has Down’s syndrome and Mark (29) is profoundly autistic.
We have just celebrated Andrew’s 10th year working with Philip James Wilson; he has worked for us for longer than some office staff members! Last week, Mike Wilson, the director of Philip James Wilson and Christine Bamforth the Office Manager, took Andrew out for lunch to celebrate and present him with a commemorative plaque for his decade of service.
Director Mike Wilson and CEO Philip Nolan both have close family members with disabilities, and have witnessed the positive effect a job can have on their lives, they firmly believe encouraging people with impairments to work and encouraging employers to hire people with disabilities is very important.
Christine Bamforth is the staff member who organises the tasks for Mark and Andrew to carry out each week and she finds the whole experience really rewarding, “The guys have really opened our eyes to working with people with learning difficulties and disabilities. They are so reliable and take great pride in their work, which makes me really proud to see them happy in employment.”
As time has progressed the staff in the office have learned more about Andrew and Mark’s personalities, including Andrew’s love of animals and just how big a sweet tooth Mark has!
“At 6’7” you can’t fail to notice Mark and even though he doesn’t communicate verbally with us, we always know when he is looking for something sweet.” Christine told me and she went on to say, “Now Andrew knows us all well now; he always says hello to everyone when he comes in the office and asks us about our pets. He’s a right giggler and is very popular with everyone he meets.”
I spoke to Andrew’s case manager who told me that “everyone has seen a change in Andrew since he started with Philip James… he really enjoys working and getting out and about.”
When I spoke to Mark’s mum, Sally, about this she informed me that Mark is unable to communicate with people due to his autism and sometimes people will go up to him in the street and ask for directions, but he is unable to help them because he doesn’t know where the other person is trying to get to. Mark’s disability is undetectable until you interact with him, so he is unable to explain how he feels about being able to work. His care team, however, is really happy with the progress that employment has afforded Mark; his case worker Amy said, “He has come on so much since he has started working – everyone has noticed.”
Both Mark and Andrew are from the local Stockport area and both in full time residential care facilities, which means they have full time support in living as independently as they can. They both come into the office each week with support workers to collect the leaflets and a list of the streets they need to deliver to. Christine said, “Over the years we have got to know the people who come in with Andrew. When he first started he was accompanied by two team members…since starting to work and making new friends in our office his behavior has really improved because he is more confident, so now he only needs to have one member of the support team with him to read signs and notices on properties etc.”
Highlighting initiatives to get people with both learning and physical disabilities is something about which Sally Baines is passionate. Talking about people with disabilities she said, “Don’t treat them with kid gloves; he (Mark) can do a lot of things.” She went on to say that she is “delighted he has something to structure his life around” and that she is “incredibly proud of what he has achieved.”
At Philip James, we are proud of the work that both Andrew and Mark do, as well as the people who work with them. The lads work really hard, out in all weathers, running in to the odd dog, walking up lots of steps and long driveways. Our staff benefit from their visits to the office; they have been able to learn about disabilities and that a disability needn’t necessarily prevent someone from being able to work.
Andrew and Mark are really important to our business and we wouldn’t be without them.
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