Disability Confident is a voluntary UK Government scheme designed to encourage employers to attract, recruit, retain and promote disabled people, and they are given the support they need to achieve their potential.

The scheme has three tiers – Level 1: Disability Confident Committed, Level 2: Disability Confident Employer, and Level 3: Disability Confident Leader. Previously at Level 2, Awen’s enhanced accreditation includes a pledge to help other employers on their Disability Confident journey.

Richard Hughes, Chief Executive of Awen Cultural Trust, said:

“At Awen, we are fully committed to actively building a diverse and inclusive workforce. There are 7.6m people of working age who have a disability or health condition, many of whom will have the talent and skills we need within our organisation.

“We want to do all we can to support disabled people to apply for roles with Awen, by embedding practices within our recruitment, selection and training processes that proactively remove the barriers that traditionally may have prevented them from accessing or staying in employment.

“Some examples of this include us interviewing all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post, making reasonable adjustments at the interview stage, and offering staff training in neurodiversity, so they can support both colleagues and customers.”

Disability Confident has been live since November 2016, replacing the former ‘Two Ticks’ positive action scheme. It supports the UK Government’s commitment to help one million more disabled people into work within the next ten years.