Senior leaders across Scotland, including the First Minister, are taking part in a day of action to promote the role of disabled people at work
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Edinburgh Council leader Adam McVey are just two senior Scots who will be shadowed by disabled young people for a day later this month.
The pair are taking part in Scotland’s first DuoDay, which aims to promote the positive contribution that people with disabilities make in the workplace.
Scottish Union of Supported Employment (SUSE) is organising the first ever Scottish DuoDay on 26 April, joining a European movement in support of equal working rights for disabled people.
Also known as Shadow day, DuoDay will see disabled people matched with staff across Scottish public, private and third sectors for a day of work experience.
Just 43% of working age disabled Scots are in employment, compared to 80% of the rest of the population.
This year the day is focusing on leadership, and SUSE is still looking for chief executives and senior managers to volunteer to be shadowed by a disabled person.
A number of charities have already signed up including Enable, Scottish Commission for Learning Disability, the Long-Term Conditions Alliance Scotland, the Lennox Partnership and the Grassmarket Community Centre.
David Cameron, chief executive of SUSE, said: “This year’s DuoDay will focus on the theme if leadership. People with disabilities have leadership aspirations and ambitions and we want to show that such opportunities exist for them in Scotland.
“We are very excited to have Nicola Sturgeon and Edinburgh council leader Adam McVey on board. This is a tense time in the employability sector with the new Fair Start programme just starting and this will be a great opportunity to highlight the importance of the voluntary sector involvement in delivering supported employment and providing the right services for people to disabilities to access real jobs for real money.”
People and organisations are also being asked to mark Scotland’s first DuoDay on Twitter using #2018duoday.
