News

Diji’s Brixton Soup Kitchen Work Experience-celebrating World Autism Awareness Week

29th March 2018

Our Post-19 hub in Shepherd’s Bush in partnership with Yarrow Housing has seen a significant growth in activity over the past year. With the support of Yarrow, the provision has been able to expand to accommodate four learners. Each learner is now accessing their local communities and creating their own individual pathways into adulthood.

Since January, Diji, one of our Post-19 learners, has been accessing a voluntary work experience placement at Brixton Soup Kitchen (BSK) as part of the Can Do Programme run by Leonard Cheshire. Once a week Diji goes along to BSK to help provide a range of services for homeless individuals.

Diji’s jobs at BSK range from folding and sorting clothes that have been donated to picking up a pizza delivery and serving food to the service users. He has learnt different folding techniques that didn’t require the use of a surface – essential given the tight spaces at BSK – and leads the way to go and collect the pizza delivery. The marked change for Diji has been his growing confidence at BSK, something that was noticed by Carrie, the Can Do Programme Coordinator.

Carrie said that she ‘witnessed Diji’s growth in confidence in completing the volunteer tasks and development in friendship with his peers as well as other community members at the BSK’ before adding ‘Diji is an integral member in making our Can Do Programme and team a success.’

The added interaction with his peers has been something that his Post-19 Instructor has also noticed. Diji has started socialising more with his peers, greeting them on arrival and when leaving, and also receiving high fives and fist bumps from other volunteers.

This increased confidence and social interaction is a great example of why our learners take part in work experience and we are very grateful to the Can Do Programme for allowing Diji to access the placement.

We are always on the lookout for new work experience placements, so our pupils have a broader choice of what they can do. If you know of any businesses that you think might be interested in providing work experience, please get in touch.