Support to Work: employment support programme

Support to Work is a free online and telephone support programme for disabled people in England and Wales, who are looking for paid work. This is not a face-to-face service, so may not be right for everyone. 

Eligibility

Support to Work is open to disabled people who:

• are 16 years or over
• are looking for a paid job
• have internet, email and telephone or Skype access
• live in England or Wales.

Sign up

Signing up for Support to Work is a 2-step process:

1. Create a Scope account
2. Register for Support to Work

Employment advice

You will get help from one of our specialist employment advisers online and over the phone.

Our friendly advisers will listen to your challenges and give specific advice for your situation. With in-depth knowledge and experience they can support you with many aspects of looking for paid work, including:

• identifying your strengths and transferable skills
• developing confidence and job skills like time management
• reviewing your CV to meet your employment goals
• how and where to look for jobs
• mock interviews
• how to talk to your employer about your impairment and reasonable adjustments

But, your adviser:

• cannot write a CV or job application for you
• cannot search for jobs and work experience for you

Contact us at supporttowork@scope.org.uk or call 0300 222 5742 if you want to discuss whether it’s right for you.

12-weeks of support

Your employment adviser will work with you to create a personal and flexible 12-week programme. They will set you tasks to complete such as:

• reading work and careers advice
• writing a CV or cover letter from a template
• preparing for interviews

Your adviser will be on hand to help you throughout the 12 weeks. At the end of the 12 weeks your time with the adviser will end, but you'll still have access to all resources in your personal online portal.

Once you start on the service. You will have access to vacancies through our online job board from partner organisations, recruiters, and employers who are committed to employing more disabled people.

In work support

Once you find work our support does not end. Our specialist in work support adviser will work with you for up to 26 weeks. They will support you with any issues that may arise in work, including:

• support with asking for reasonable adjustments
• Access to Work applications

Making adjustments

We can make adjustments if you need them, such as, video calls with British Sign Language interpreters or Skype messenger.

Opening times

Monday to Friday: 9am to 7pm.

In partnership with Virgin Media 

The Support to Work service is supported by Virgin Media, as part of our partnership ambition to support 1 million disabled people with the skills and confidence, to get into and stay in work by the end of 2020.