Here is what some of our clients have said about our disability equality training:
VisitScotland
July- November 2009
Chris McCoy, Equality and Diversity Manager said:
“In order to provide an inclusive service and help us understand the needs of disabled people better, we asked Capability Scotland to run some Disability Equality sessions for all 600 staff working in our Visitor Information Centres.
The training is being very well received, with staff making comments like “I thought I knew everything about customer service until I came on this course” and “We will certainly be taking what we learnt on the course and using it in our centre”.
Our staff were surprised about the style and content of the course, and they felt that having trainers with a disability gave it credibility and they said they had learnt so much from them. They were also surprised with some of the humour and stories told on the training day, they felt it was a great relaxed way of communicating the key essentials of disability equality.”
Edinburgh Leisure
2005 – 2009
Claire Ferry, Healthy Active Minds Co-ordinator said:
“We have worked with Capability Scotland for over 4 years now and their professionalism throughout has been fantastic. Their openness to tailor equality sessions to the needs of our organisation has been hugely appreciated and greatly valued.
Feedback from the staff that attended has been that they found the training delivered to be really useful. It was experiential, thought provoking and created understanding for front-line staff in terms of adapting some simple communication behaviours at reception to develop a more empathetic approach to meet the different needs of our customers. It has without doubt given our front of house team the confidence to help break down some of the communication barriers at the start of the customer journey regardless of ability or experience. Thank you.”
Palace of Holyroodhouse and The Queen’s Gallery
April 2008
Kirsty McNiece, Visitor Operations Manager said:
“Everyone who attended found the training course to be of great value: the content was presented clearly, and the number of interactive exercises made for a lively and engaging session. This helped to make a large amount of information easy to remember, and scenarios tailored to our workplace meant that everyone learnt a lot about how to continually improve and develop the service offered to disabled visitors.
The open and friendly atmosphere that the trainers created put everyone at ease and gave plenty of opportunities for questions and discussion. In particular, their ability and willingness to talk from their own experience and to illustrate their points with personal anecdotes was much appreciated and gave a very ‘real’ dimension to the course material. Our thanks to the Equality Unit for providing such a successful programme.”
East Renfrewshire Council
January 2008
Rona Kennedy, Acting Quality Improvement Officer said:
"On behalf of everyone who attended the training may I thank all of you for the very professional, thought - provoking session we had on Tuesday. Everyone really enjoyed and appreciated having the opportunity to discuss the issues around disability equality. There was a great mix of activity, reflection, a bit of fun and of course – learning!"
Scottish Spina Bifida Association
October 2007
Mark Lees, Services and Development Manager said:
"Everyone found the disability equality training delivered by Capability Scotland's Equality Unit to be really useful and enjoyable. The fact that the training was delivered by disabled people made it very real as they were speaking from personal experience and were very knowledgeable.
The DVD that was shown was really powerful. It put the issues being discussed into context by turning disability discrimination on its head and showing a non-disabled person experiencing the barriers that disabled people experience. Everyone had a fantastic time and it was really nice to chat with the trainers afterwards over lunch."
Office of the Public Guardian
April 2008
Kenny Graham, Administration/Finance Manager said:
“Thank you for arranging last week’s training and to the trainers for providing such well received and informative sessions.
I know from talking with colleagues that they have taken something from the sessions and will be able to apply it not only in but also out with the workplace.”
The Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries Special Needs Group
March 2007
Jill Evans, Service Development Manager said:
"Please convey my sincere thanks on behalf of the SCURL Special Needs Group to Grant for his fabulous presentation this morning. The members were entranced with both the content and the relaxed delivery of the information he conveyed to us. We certainly learned so much from him on the practical considerations with conversing and working with people and colleagues with differing disabilities.
"We were very privileged to have welcomed Grant this morning at our meeting and with his profound knowledge and sense of humour we enjoyed a very informative presentation."
Office of the Public Guardian
January and February 2006
Karen Halford, Training Manager said:
“On Thursday we completed the last of our Disability Equality Training sessions and I would just like to say a big thank you to you for organising the training and especially to the trainers for their facilitation.
The feedback I’ve been receiving is very positive with staff expressing how valuable the training has been to them and how interesting the trainers made it. A few people have even come to me with examples of things that they experienced after their session and how the training changed their view of the situation.
Thank you once again for providing an informative yet fun programme for all our staff.”
RSAMD
2006 – present
Katja Riek, Access Co-Coordinator said:
“It is an absolute pleasure to work with Capability Scotland. The willingness to work closely with the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama and tailor a series of Disability Equality Sessions to our very specific needs has been treasured and ensured that the sessions were highly relevant to the particular needs of our staff.
The feedback on both the delivery and the usefulness of the sessions has been very positive indeed. I highly recommend Capability Scotland and its dedicated trainers to other educational institutions.”
Scottish Health Service Centre
December 2005
Keith Miller, Business Manager said:
“The tailor-made sessions on disability equality conducted by Capability Scotland and delivered to staff of the Scottish Health Service Centre were highly regarded. The sessions were informative, interesting, interactive and enjoyable. Staff were unanimous that their knowledge and confidence had been greatly enhanced by these sessions.”
Lothian Buses
Rolling programme continued through 2007 and 2008.
George McKendrick, Operations Manager said:
“Lothian Buses is committed to staff development and training to continually improve the quality of customer service we provide to all our passengers. Having completed an in house disability awareness course for our 1500 driving and front line staff we decided that we needed to enhance that training but we did not have the expertise within our own training staff.
Having looked at several outside training agencies we found that Capability Scotland were able to provide a customised package that was not only informative but provided the opportunity for interaction between our staff and a variety of disabled trainers who had practical knowledge of the barriers that disabled people experience when using public transport . These courses have provided positive feedback from our staff and have really made a difference to their perception and understanding of the needs of disabled passengers which will go a long way to improving the quality of service we provide.
If such training is to succeed it is important that all Senior Management take part and commit to the goals therefore initial sessions targeted this group prior to delivery to driving staff as part of our rolling programme of 45 weekly sessions planned for 2006.”
Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland
November 2005
Debbie Kaney, Assessor said:
“Our training on Tuesday was great. We had a really good day and the trainers really worked well to put us at our ease, challenge and inform us.
The day had a good balance of activity and information and left most people with a desire to learn more - so the references provided will be good for that.”
For more information please contact Elspeth Molony on 0131 347 1022 or complete the online enquiry form.