Workscheme showcases work by people with learning disabilities

A Doncaster-based service that provides employment for people with learning disabilities held an open day to showcase their work this week. The Workscheme, which is run by Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust (RDaSH) at its St Catherine’s site in Balby, exhibited a range of hand-made wooden products including toy boxes, garden furniture, bird tables and hedgehog hibernation boxes, which it offers for sale to staff.

The self-funding scheme provides service users with skills including woodwork and gardening in their own allotment. The Workscheme also offers trust staff a furniture restoration service and is able to strip and refurbish old furniture including garden benches, gates, pine and oak tables and chairs. Senior charge nurse Morag McKay-Ellison said: “Service users benefit from a rise in their self-esteem and confidence when they get thanks and praise from people who buy their products, as well as getting a monetary reward for their hard work.”