Newsletter – May 2020
Our social enterprise ELITE Clothing Solutions are producing much needed medical scrubs for the NHS, along with our partners.
When the Welsh Government was notified that the Far East and sub-continent would be partially closing down production at the end of March as a result of coronavirus, it took immediate action to secure a large amount of fabric from within the UK market so that it could be used to produce up to 2500 scrubs per week in Wales.
The Welsh Government passed the fabric it had purchased straight to Alexandra, a UK-based company that supplies the NHS with scrubs but is heavily reliant on overseas markets for both material and production. As Alexandra were low on supplies, they were more than happy to take this material on.
The Welsh Government then linked Alexandra with ELITE Clothing Solutions & 2 other sites across Wales to begin production.
During the battle against coronavirus ELITE SEA have received funding in the first round of the Voluntary Services Emergency Fund.
The Welsh Government fund was set up at speed earlier this month in order to get funding to the people who needed it most.
The purpose of the fund is to enable those providing vital support to groups such as: people in isolation, the elderly, carers, people struggling to access food etc so that they can be supported during this time.
The current situation has placed a significant demand on our services as we have experienced high volumes of individuals losing their employment, at risk of losing their employment or requiring support through the furlough worker status.
We therefore aim to support individuals with disabilities/disadvantage, and their employers, through these challenges, by utilising a range of support mechanisms. This may include advocacy regarding welfare benefits, 1:1 support to job find, or individual and employer support, to implement the Job Retention Scheme.
Our JobSense team keeping in touch.
We challenged our team to introduce themselves using BSL.
Deaf Awareness Week.
Over 500 people benefited from Ystradgynlais Foodbank in the last 4 week.
Gill Rees, one of our employment advisors based in Swansea is currently furloughed by ELITE, but is using the time wisely to volunteer at her local foodbank.
Gill has always enjoyed spending her time volunteering for good causes, starting out accompanying her mother at WRVS (Royal Voluntary Service). Before being furloughed, Gill considered volunteering again in her local village and proceeded to help the food bank with it's initial set up back in April.
She now volunteers two mornings a week, loading the van to go to outreach areas and also assisting customers at the food bank, serving anyone who requires the appropriate help.
During the time Gill has volunteered at the food bank, over 500 people have benefited from their services.
A massive well done to Gill & the team at Ystradgynlais Foodbank, from everyone at ELITE!
At ELITE we have positively reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic and have diversified the way in which we are working.
-Nigel Williams, a participant who is engaged on our Supported Employment Programme in RCT, normally attends 1-2-1 Job Club appointments with his Employment Advisor John Rawlinson at our outreach venue in Pontypridd.
When the COVID-19 lockdown began, John contacted Nigel and he expressed that he was keen to continue to access ELITE’s services at this challenging time. John has made it possible for their 1-2-1 appointments to continue via Zoom Video Conferencing App on a weekly basis, which Nigel very much looks forward to.
This has been beneficial to Nigel for both his well-being and continuous learning. He has demonstrated motivation and a commitment to increasing his pre-employability skills. ELITE are currently working with Nigel to complete the “Career Preparation’ accredited unit virtually.
Pictured above, is a screenshot of John and Nigel's last session on Zoom.