Department of Equality to give Disability Awareness presentation to members of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses

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 Thursday, November 28, 2019 - 11:22

The Department of Equality will be giving an overview presentation of its “Disability, Language and Etiquette training seminar to members of the Gibraltar Federation of Small Businesses (GFSB) on Thursday 5th December. The talk will form part of the GFSB’s Breakfast Club initiative and aims to inform members of the benefits of making their business more accessible to people with disabilities as well as provide good customer care or management for people with disabilities. The session will end with a Question and Answer session. 

The presentation by the Department of Equality will be a taster of the actual training that it usually delivers. Members of the GFSB (and their staff) will also be invited to attend the full training session to be organised at a later stage. The full seminar covers areas on disability such as, disability today, environmental and organisational barriers, the different models of disability as well as a section on language and terminology and why it is beneficial for businesses to be as inclusive as possible.

Jason Belilo, Equality Development officer from the Department of Equality will deliver the presentation to the GFSB members. Mr Belilo is certified by the UK Charity, Attitude is Everything to deliver training on disability awareness.

GFSB members who attend this presentation, as well as those who are unable to attend, can show their interest to attend the full seminar which will be organised at a later date. They should e-mail gfsb@gfsb.gi to get in touch with the GFSB Office in order to put their names down.

The Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento, said: “It is very pleasing to see the interest being generated by members of the private sector and seeing them take their own steps to become more accessible businesses. I am very grateful to the GFSB for getting in touch with us in order to deliver our presentation at the Breakfast Club.

"The presentation shows what it means to be more inclusive as well as the mutual benefits in making businesses more accessible to people with disabilities. It is important to remember that people should not feel disabled because of their disability and that more should be done by those with the powers to do so.

"This Government is paving the way for a more accessible Gibraltar, but it also needs the support of everyone in the community, it is not just a question of adding ramps, but attitudes need to change too. We can only do this in small steps. This Government will not rest until these barriers are broken and Gibraltar becomes as accessible as possible.”

GFSB Chairperson Julian Byrne said: "The GFSB is committed to helping small businesses in Gibraltar to thrive and to be more inclusive. We have worked over the last year with a number of charities like GibSams, the Nautilus Project and the Gibraltar Dyslexia Support Group (GDSG), partnering with them to hold the very first Diversity & Inclusion Seminar on the positive impact of dyslexia in the workplace.

"Now we are extremely happy to partner with the Ministry of Equality at our next Breakfast Club next week. This event is just one of the many ways we serve our members and help them progress their businesses in today's diverse community. We also want to thank the Ministry of Equality and hope that our members sign up quickly whilst places remain."

28-11-2019 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR