Stourbridge News
Brave businesswoman launches new jobsite at House of Commons
5:30pm Monday 6th February 2012
A GUTSY Kingswinford businesswoman celebrated the launch of an innovative new job board for disabled jobseekers at the House of Commons.
Mother-of-two Jane Hatton founded the Evenbreak job board to help employers recruit physically and mentally disabled candidates through the usual channels.
The 51-year-old, who cannot sit and has difficulty standing and walking since suffering a spinal injury seven years ago, developed the social enterprise venture to help others like herself to find work.
Launched last year - the initiative, the only not for profit job board in the UK run by disabled people for disabled people, has already seen hundreds of people register to access jobs ranging from care assistants to head teachers.
And on January 31, Jane launched the venture at the House of Commons in front of an audience of senior HR and equality executives from a host of large inclusive employers.
Among them was Adrian Thomas, head of resourcing at Network Rail, who said the partnership with Evenbreak had been “pivotal” in helping to attract talented disabled people for a range of jobs.
Ian Pugh and Jean Eveleigh also attended the launch - having both successfully found new careers through the jobsite after years of rejection by employers unable to see beyond their wheelchairs.
Founder Jane Hatton, who develop the online business lying down, said: “I wanted to prove that despite my injury I, like many others have still got plenty to offer and with a few simple adaptations, the skills and enthusiasm of ten million disabled people across the country can be tapped into.
“It makes it all worth while when people come back to us to say that Evenbreak has changed their lives.
“We have already achieved much in the first few months - attracting clients such as BBC, Yorkshire Water, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Smiths Medical and Zurich Finance, and we have attracted an amazingly diverse range of disabled candidates with a huge range of talents.
“We are thrilled to welcome Network Rail as our first corporate sponsor, and look forward to helping them change the profile of their workforce, attracting disabled candidates to a wide range of roles.”
Evenbreak is free for job searchers to use and there is a nominal fee for employers to list their vacancies.
Jane, who ran a successful organisation offering diversity training in the workplace before her injury, hopes any surplus funds generated by the enterprise can be put towards activities to challenge stereotypes around disability in the workplace.
Employers Forum on Disability statistics show disabled people are just as productive as able-bodied colleagues, are more loyal, take less sick leave, have less work placed accidents and are more adaptable.
To find out more about Evenbreak visit website www.evenbreak.co.uk