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Check out the IWR Virtual Work experience details  here 

General Information

We are a not-for-profit CIC Limited Company, run for and by those with a disability first created June 2019 by Karen Yates focused on promoting, independence and work ready skills initially through our website, irrespective of disability or learning difficulty or SEND needs. We are wanting to record your lived experience and strategies.

We are developing an Online Social Retail Tech hub and offering virtual work experience, creative and digital as well as social sessions. Products for sale online are designed by individuals with SEND/Disabilities/Mental health or other chronic health issue. The work with us involves:


Product design, using photographs, art and enterprise workshop sessions.

Product creation workshops like jewellery making.

Retail and customer service experience including product sourcing. 

Website and digital skills sessions.

Paid services such as help with PIP application forms.

Help with CVs and application forms/interview skills.

Sessions on adult life skills - easy read topics.

iPad apps for education sessions.

Entry Level to Level 1 creative writing and life skills based literacy sessions.

Mentoring and self esteem sessions.

Social media skills.

Newspaper writing.

Online creative competitions and activities.

Work experience finding.

If you scroll down the home page you will see picture icons and categories for easy navigation. 

These themes lead to different groups of pages of information on each topic. These are: Money Management Benefits and Housing, Education, Health, Interests, Life in General, Workplace, all in relation to disability. Information includes easy read materials for life topics to other materials, helping those going to university and much more connected to disability. 


We would also love to hear from you if any of you want to get involved sharing strategies for overcoming disability for adult life, be that personal accounts, art or videos others can learn from, or if you have a disability and would like to promote your creativity or art work with us.

We will be looking to make our site more interactive with more online support with a forum but also a means to collect your disability experiences and achievements for adult life. For example, we would like to include a video wall and art/creativity. We would like to develop the site so it may promote creativity and artwork of individuals with disabilities, not just in our sessions but hopefully independently from home.

If you would like to advertise disability services or jobs on our site, let us know for a good rate.

Our Directors and Team have a range of experiences, including lived personal disability experiences; experience working in further and higher education; SEND; experience in the community with disabilities; experience with moderate learning disabilities; experience as a Specialist Mentor for Autism and Mental Health in Higher Education; SEND qualifications and an MSc, as well as business running experience and accountancy experience.

Email us at independentandworkready@gmail.com