This month the SMH WorkAbility team hosted a “Celebrate WorkAbility” event to show the career and work pathways available for people in St Michael’s House services who are interested in taking part in the project.
Ailish Ryan, Project Coordinator, said: “We were delighted to host this event and provide an opportunity for people in St Michael’s House to explore their work goals and learn about how the project can support them in working towards these goals. It was great to see those attending really engaging in the different activities and it has provided us with valuable information for planning our activities for next year”.
Stands around the room gave participants a chance to try out each work area directly in a very practical and tangible way, and included a “dress for work” area where people could try on uniforms and interview attire, and “try a job” areas for hotel work, retail, kitchen, cleaning and chef work. There was also space to practice interview questions and ask questions about the different career pathways.
In addition to work experience development, the WorkAbility project delivers training in manual handling and job-specific skills, and these were on offer to sample during the half day event.
Alongside the presentations and stands, a ‘wall of fame’ highlighted the experiences and successes of those who had completed work experience, training courses, or had started full time jobs or internships, for attendees to see and feel encouraged by. The event also featured an art workshop where attendees could take time out for creative exploration and visualisation of career options.
To find out more about WorkAbility Project, visit their page here, or email supportedemployment@smh.ie
To see all of the photos of the event visit the gallery here.