We’ve been reflecting on what a huge year 2018 has been for Little Gate Farm... so what have we been up to this year?

Firstly, we would like to thank ALL the work trainees, young rangers, families/carers, employers and schools/colleges with whom we work for their continued support.

We have been humbled to work with a plethora of local businesses, all seen in the photo. You guys are all brilliant employers and are truly making a difference to our work trainees’ lives!

It has been an amazingly successful year at Little Gate, smashing our target by placing 15 work trainees into paid employment! We also launched our new route into work for people aged 16-24, through our Supported Apprenticeship programme!

In 2019 we will be rolling out our Supported Apprenticeship programme to Eastbourne and Uckfield! We are eager to work alongside with special schools/colleges and families to plan routes into paid work for young people in areas such as Health and Social Care, Hospitality and Childcare! Many of these adults have never had paid work before, and we are so pleased to be able to make a positive impact on their lives.

Why do we do it? Supported Employment matters because if you have autism or a learning disability in the UK, you have only a 6% chance of getting a paid job without support. Many of the adults we work with feel “day care” is not appropriate for them and have struggled to find/sustain work and end up falling through the cracks.

Supported Employment at Little Gate is a highly effective process with job coaches who are trained in systematic instruction, providing essential support with travel training, help on the job, and also supporting employers to find the right employees for their business.

We want to make sure that both the employer and the trainee are in employment for the long haul, so job matching and making reasonable adjustments is imperative to creating a supportive environment that doesn’t fade.

We are particularly proud of our work experience programme at the Conquest Hospital which has led to 3 paid roles since September, including Housekeeping and Catering.

2018, has also been a pioneering year for weddings and events at Little Gate! 5 work trainees got paid work experience throughout the summer, also while witnessing beautiful weddings and parties! We can’t wait to build on this during 2019.

We have also expanded our Young Rangers respite holiday club, so that more children can attend at weekends and throughout the holidays. We even celebrated with a Christmas party! We can’t wait for more adventures with the Young Rangers in 2019.

Also a HUGE thank you to all those involved in our 2018 festival...in 2019 our festival will be bigger and better than ever! 

Save the date: 8th-9th June 2019.

...Wow! We sure have been busy, so now we would like to take this opportunity to thank our partners, stakeholders, friends and mentors, funders and trustees a HAPPY NEW YEAR from all the team at Little Gate!