07-08-2025
Sussex farm helps adults with SEND gain independence and jobs
A charity in East Sussex is helping adults with learning disabilities find jobs through gaining farm Gate Farm, near Rye, matches its trainees to local employers and supports them to start to government figures, 5.1% of adults with a learning disability are in paid Bowen, who was supported by the farm and now has a job, said he "wouldn't know where he'd be" without the organisation.
The 46-acre farm is a pre-employment training ground which teaches transferable skills like woodwork, flower cutting and animal coach Jessica Miller said: "We know that a lot of our team might not go into work with wood or charcoal but it's about learning the teamwork skills behind it, the communication skills behind it, the confidence behind it."
Mr Bowen found it difficult to find a job due to his learning disabilities and became homeless, before being referred to Little Gate Farm by the job now has a job at a local said: "What I've learnt from here, I've took it to work with me."Not having a job I don't know where I'd be, I'd still be in the same situation, still on universal credit."He said he had "come a long way".
Chloe Valentine, 27, who has autism and anxiety, has been supported by the farm for four said she struggled to get a job because of "the unknown" due to "not knowing about what's going to happen and how you're going to deal with a situation that's unexpected".Twenty-two trainees can come to activity sessions each day, with many attending two or three times a week.
They can take part in work experience and paid employment with the organisation before being matched with local companies, supported through recruitment and beginning charity also runs sessions for young people aged eight to Briars, the head of Little Gate Farm, said they were trying to "bridge a gap" to support employers "to understand that employing someone with a learning disability is the same as employing someone without a disability".They currently have a waiting list for their services and believe by helping those with learning disabilities into employment, rather than relying on adult social care services, it is a "cost saving" to the local authority.
