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Marks and Start One of the most notable achievements of Motivation's Employment Placement Programme is our work with Marks & Spencer to help deliver their international 'Marks & Start' programme.

The Marks & Start programme gives disabled people (mostly women) the opportunity to be integrated into a mainstream working environment, enabling them to contribute towards the economic stability of their families. The programme is run by Marks & Spencer in partnership with Motivation and their garment suppliers. Trainees attend a two month course run by Rehab Lanka before they are selected by factories in need of skilled seamstresses.

 

One of the factories that produces garments for Marks & Spencer is Quantum Clothing. According to Quantum's Manager, Mr Wijekoon, "The Marks & Start girls are very hard working; they always have fantastic attendance records". Quantum's General Manager agrees: "We would welcome ten more, twenty more, as many as possible from the Marks & Start programme!"

 

The Marks & Start programme is currently running in Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh. To date 55 disabled people have successfully completed the training and progressed to full-time employment. Slimline, one of the supplier factories in Sri Lanka , has recently been awarded the Sara Lee award for Community Involvement, which has brought international recognition for the Marks & Start programme.

Following the success of the Marks & Start programme Motivation has been asked by Marks & Spencer to implement it in Turkey. Motivation is working with a DPO and five garment factories to create a course that will train human resources staff and representatives from disabled employees to increase disability awareness, establish buddy systems, conduct informal family open days and ensure that the buildings are fully accessible. It is hoped that the first training course will be offered by January 2007.

 

In recognition of their outstanding contribution to helping disabled people find work both in the UK and around the world, Marks & Spencer were awarded the Employability Award in 2006 at the Business in the Community's annual Awards for Excellence.

Real lives that have been changed

Eresha   Eresha is 21 years old. Born with leg impairments, she attended school for a few years but had to leave before taking her O' levels because of financial constraints. Eresha explains that life has changed for her since hearing about the Marks & Start programme from a friend. "I successfully underwent the two month training course, which was very useful because it taught me all the skills that I need for my job at Quantum. I have been working here for six months and I am very happy. The pay and working hours are good. I have managed to save some money for myself and I also send 10% of my wages back to my family in our hometown of Agalawatte."

Sandamali 28 year old Sandamali has multiple disabilities. She is pictured here (left) with her colleague Pushpa, another graduate from the Marks & Start training course. Life became very tough for Sandamali after she left school. "I tried to earn money for my family by selling goods from door to door in the community, but I was desperate to receive formal training and to have the security of a full-time job." Being successfully selected for the Marks & Start training has been life changing for Sandamali. She is now a full time employee at Slimline, one of the leading garment manufacturers in Sri Lanka that supplies Marks & Spencer. "In my performance report I always exceed the quality requirements of the factory. I am now the breadwinner of the family. Our future is looking a lot brighter."