Strawberry Field celebrates 38 trainees at its Spring Graduation

We are so proud of the 38 individuals who graduated yesterday afternoon after completing a Steps to Work, Steps to Volunteer or Steps for Students programme. During their time at Strawberry Field they have blossomed and grown and we look forward to seeing them flourish as they continue on their journeys to paid work and better futures.

As we celebrate our graduates, we also celebrate neurodiversity and how difference enriches workplaces and communities. It was wonderful to begin Neurodiversity Celebration Week by celebrating our Steps at Strawberry Field trainees at their Spring Graduation.

The graduation also celebrated two students from our Learning Hub programme who have come to Strawberry Field on work placements. Both students have made invaluable contributions through their placements and we were delighted to honour them at the graduation.

Our Steps at Strawberry Field programmes are all about creating opportunities for people and championing social justice. We are absolutely delighted that 56% of our Steps to Work trainees and 64% of our Steps for Students trainees gained paid employment. To put that into perspective, the proportion of people with a learning disability in paid employment in England is 4.8% (BASE stats) and the employment rate for adults in contact with secondary mental health services remains at 6% (BASE stats).

It is wonderful to see such fantastic results and to witness the incredible impact that our Steps at Strawberry Field programmes have on young people in our community.

Thank you to our Honorary President Julia Baird for continuously supporting our Steps at Strawberry Field programmes and to our volunteers who generously support our mission at Strawberry Field. Thank you to all who attended our graduation, including Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dr Ruth M Hussey CB OBE DL, our employer partners, our colleagues from THQ, and friends and supporters Freda Kelly and Lizzie Acker.

We would like to thank our musicians Chris and Zoe who have provided entertainment and our sponsors JBL, AKG, Harmon and Orange.