Introducing our new CEO Andrea Randall-Smith
Little Gate are extremely pleased to welcome Andrea Randall-Smith into the role of CEO of Little Gate, commencing in January 2020. Founder of Little Gate Claire is stepping down this Christmas, after six years of extreme dedication and hard work in breaking down barriers across employers in East Sussex. Claire will be joining the board of trustees, and we will miss her sorely.
"I set up Little Gate Farm in 2013 with the desire to create a meaningful program and route into paid employment for learning disabled adults. It has been a great privilege and honour to create an organisation that has brought that vision to life. I am delighted Trustees took the decision to appoint Andrea, she has been part of the Little Gate team for 4 years, she is a passionate advocate for the work trainees we serve and she will lead the team to make the service even better in the future. I will still be involved in the valuable work of the organisation by moving onto the trustee board. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the support you have given me and Little Gate over the last 6 years, and I hope you will continue to support Andrea with the same enthusiasm, kindness and support over the coming years."
Our team is growing!
The Little Gate team has grown like never before this year! We are so proud to have so many great staff working for us. We now have job coaches based in Eastbourne, expanding our reach for providing Supported Employment.
Young Peoples' programme
Over the past year, our new Supported Apprenticeship Programme has erupted! 2019 saw Jordan successfully finish his apprenticeship and be offered a paid job by Southlands Place Care Home, who have also taken on another apprentice Steven. We now have trainees in many different sectors including: childcare, hospitality, business admin, tourist information and front of house work. The De la Warr, Hastings Borough Council and the Hydro Hotel are just a few of the fantastic employers who we are working with.
The apprenticeship job coaches have excelled as they are taking on the role of tutoring the trainees with English and Maths. Dee has done a wonderful job leading this project over the year, and we look forward to see it progress even further in 2020.
Huge growth in our Jobs Forum
We have also seen a huge growth in our Jobs Forum this year. The course now runs for four different groups, learning interview skills, CV building, independent living skills, workplace behaviour etc.
This has proved a worthwhile platform for graduated trainees looking for career progression. We have accompanied trainees on their job interviews to see them bring their skills into action! Thank you to Saga who have kindly given us a room to run this course.
2019 Employer Awards ceremony
In November we held our 2nd annual Employer Awards. Held in the beautiful De la Warr Pavilion, trainees, family, staff and employers gathered to celebrate the diversity that our learning disabled adults provide to businesses across East Sussex.
We presented thirteen awards to our best partner employers. All of these award winners were gifted with a handcrafted wooden trophy, which were made meticulously by the Little Gate Farm Woodland Team.
An incredible employer who cannot go unmentioned this year are the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust. Since starting our rolling work experience programme in a plethora of departments including catering, housekeeping, health records and more; we have had over 18 trainees in placements- resulting in three permanent paid jobs. This is a partnership we are hugely proud of, and it came as no surprise that they received many nominations, winning them the ‘People’s Choice Award’!
Other notable employers who won awards included: Focus SB who won ‘Most Dynamic Employer’, Hydro Hotel, Kench Hill Centre, Jaytec Glass, Artemis Nursery, Hailsham Roadways, Glyne Gap School, Sandown School, Hastings Borough Council, De la Warr, Southlands Place and Rose Petals Beauty/Clique Ports Escapes
An amazing year for Young Rangers
We have had an amazing year with the young rangers, seeing lots of familiar faces but also lots of new ones!
We have gone on lots of woodland walks, done arts and crafts and most importantly had lots of fun with old and new friends. This year has been a continuing success for the project and we were over the moon to be able to put on our second Christmas Party!
Farm news
We want to wish the best of luck and congratulations to our farm manager Hannah Briars who will be going on maternity leave in January. We look forward to Senior Project Leaders Ashlie and Biff taking on Hannah's role in her absence. We would like to take this moment to wish all trainees, staff, employers, stakeholders and our supporters a Merry Christmas!
