Diversity Friendly Careers Fairs 2023

In 2023 we project managed three inclusive and diverse autism-friendly careers fairs in Bristol.

Find out more about the fairs and the impact one of the careers fairs had on one young person we worked with.

Location Location Location

The careers fairs took place in:

Barton Hill (East Bristol)

Southmead (North Bristol)

The areas of Southmead and Barton hill were chosen because of the high rates of young people and adults with autism and/or with another disability. They are also two of the most deprived areas in Bristol. We also wanted to ensure that one of the fairs was held in a central location, to make is as accessible as possible for everyone, which is why we chose The Galleries for our third location. Another consideration was making sure venues had plenty of parking, and were disability friendly.

The Galleries

Our first careers fair took place at The Galleries and was well attended. We had local specialist schools come to visit us with their students and were able to give them information and advice about career options. We made sure that companies and organisations which had stalls at the fair were disability friendly. These included Mencap and University of Bristol, as well as benefits advice agencies.

Bristol Futures Academy

Our second careers fair was held at Bristol Futures Academy in Barton Hill, and was also well attended. Bristol Futures is an alternative provision providing education for 14 -16 year olds, who have found mainstream schooling difficult for a variety of reasons. It is part of Snowden Village, which has six schools. Five of the different school sites come down to visit us as well as people from the local community in Barton Hill that fitted the needs of our inclusive and diverse careers fair.

Southmead Community Centre

Our third career fair was held in Southmead Community Centre. This was the quietest out of all three careers fairs. We did have families from outside of Bristol attend as there was nothing available for them like this where they lived.

Meeting T

It was during the careers fair at Southmead Community Centre that we met a young person called T. T was 18 at the time and arrived at the fair with his dad. He was looking for work as a cleaner. T sat down with a careers advisor from the University of Bristol and went through jobs available at the University that could be suitable for him. The advisor also talked through reasonable adjustments within the workplace and support when applying for jobs at the University. T came away from his meeting with the advisor with lots of information.

T then spoke to us about his options and we told him about a programme that Mencap was running. It was for work in a warehouse, with additional support, as well as gaining extra qualifications. The programme also included providing a ‘buddy’ to help someone get to and from work if they needed this.

T decided this is what he would like to do. Unfortunately the first job that Mencap found was on the the other side of Bristol. This would have taken two bus journeys to get there, which would have been too much for T to manage. We made another phone phone call were able to get T onto the same course into a warehouse which was walking distance from his home. We are delighted with this outcome for T and he is happy in his new role.

Thank you to our funders

This project is funded by Bristol Impact Fund.