Minstead Trust campaign challenges inclusive employment crisis 

1 September 2025

People with learning disabilities across the south of England are facing an employment crisis – with decades of stubbornly high unemployment.

Minstead Trust’s bold new campaign, We Just Work, is determined to challenge those assumptions and unlock the potential of inclusive employment.

Despite years of new initiatives, the employment gap between people with learning disabilities and other people remains unacceptably wide.

In 2004, just 26% of people with learning disabilities were in paid work. By 2022, that figure had barely shifted, sitting at 26.7% (Mencap Big Learning Disability Survey).

Meanwhile, 74.3% of the general population are in work.

That’s a gap that hasn’t moved in nearly 20 years – and it’s not because people with learning disabilities don’t want to work. Most do. What stops them are outdated ideas about what they can do, inaccessible recruitment processes, and fears from employers about ‘getting it wrong’.

Minstead Trust is a charity that supports over 600 people with learning disabilities along the south coast, including helping dozens into work or training.

Over the next two months, the campaign will shine a light on the barriers that hold people back and demonstrate, through practical tools and real stories, that inclusive hiring just works – for individuals, for businesses, and for society.

Adam Dodd, Minstead Trust CEO, said:

‘Inclusive employment needn’t be complicated – it just needs the right support and a willingness to see the person.

‘For too long, society has treated employing people with learning disabilities as if it requires specialist knowledge or heroic effort. The truth is, it doesn’t. Small adjustments can make a huge difference. With the right mindset, workplaces can unlock incredible talent that has been overlooked for far too long.

‘At Minstead Trust, we see every day how pride, purpose and independence grow when people are given the chance to work. Inclusive employment isn’t just possible – it’s powerful. It’s time to move beyond just recognising the problem and start closing the gap, beginning with tackling the shocking backlog in Access to Work applications.’

The We Just Work campaign will run for the next two months across the south coast with new resources, free expert support for employers, and a wide-reaching marketing campaign.
It will feature success stories of people with learning disabilities thriving in work and businesses seeing the benefits of a more inclusive workforce.

The message is simple: inclusive hiring is not a favour – it’s a smart, future-focused move that builds stronger businesses and stronger communities.

Find out more at www.minsteadtrust.org.uk/we-just-work