4:02pm Wednesday 19th December 2012
By Craig Manning
WIRRAL Autistic Society has announced it is to employ more than 100 new staff over the next year.
The Bromborough-based charity currently employs more than 600 people and is seen as significant part of the local economy, turning over more than £13m in the last financial year.
The quality and variety of services provided is recognized well beyond Wirral. But with this success came rapid expansion as more and more referrals were made to the Society from people diagnosed with autism.
The expansion has resulted in the number of staff doubling in the last four years.
In the last year alone 140 new jobs have been created and the society estimates turnover next year will be about £15m.
Jim Strain, the charity’s director of support services said: "Many people think of us as a little local charity and are astonished when they find out just how many people we employ.
"One of the reasons we need so many people is that a client may typically need between two and three support staff working on a shift system.
"But the needs of some of our residential clients are so extensive that they need two support staff at any one time around the clock, seven days a week.
"This means that taking weekends, holidays and sickness into account, we can need up to a total of 10 people to care for just one client.
"We are regularly looking for new staff and welcome approaches from people interested in working with us."
The society currently provides 96 residential care places. Of these, 48 are in ordinary houses in the local community.
The remainder are accommodated in housing units at the organisation's 23-acre Raby Hall site.
The society’s community and vocational services department is also becoming increasingly popular as more and more clients access their fantastic day time facilities.
But it is in their Supported Living Services where the Society has seen the biggest growth, from only six clients four years ago to well over 50 today.
The majority of the Society's work involves supporting people once they have come out of the education system.
Some are full time residents, others visit the Society on a daily basis while the newly opened and specially designed building, The Ferns, provides much-needed respite care.
Anybody interested in further information about the Society, job opportunities or how they can support their fundraising activities should contact the personnel section directly on 0151 334 7510, visit www.wirral.autistic.org or email recruitment@wirral.autistic.org
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