Justin Tomlinson MP and Robert Buckland MP cut the ribbon
Justin Tomlinson MP (North Swindon) and Robert Buckland MP (South Swindon) today joined staff and customers at the official opening of the new shop at the SEQOL Enterprise Works.
The Works sell high quality garden and building products, from fence panels to chicken houses, concrete to hanging baskets. It previously sold only to trade but with the new shop is now selling directly to the public.
The Enterprise Works, owned and run by social enterprise SEQOL, trades commercially to provide employment and training opportunities for local people with learning or physical disabilities.
Justin Tomlinson MP said “I am so impressed by the range of products made at the Works and the standard of work produced. From garden gates to road signs for the Council, the opportunities available here are amazing. SEQOL Enterprise Works staff should be proud of themselves. I am so impressed by what is being achieved here and by the enjoyment and satisfaction the staff are getting from it. Rather than being marginalised, we are giving those with disabilities a stake in society, which is absolutely how it should be.”
Robert Buckland MP said: “This venture marks a genuine change in ethos in our society. We’ve tended to label people with disabilities as people we do things for or to. That’s no longer good enough and SEQOL’s ethos, that enables people with disabilities to take their right and proper place in society rather than shutting them off and forgetting about them is absolutely the right, modern, progressive approach. This is so empowering – people with disabilities are just as much part of our society as everyone else and we’re delighted to see this progressive path being taken by SEQOL Enterprise Works.”
The Enterprise Work shop is open to the public from 7.45 to 16.30 Monday to Thursday, 7.45 to 16.00 on Fridays, and from 8.30 to 12.30 on Saturdays.
Looking round the workshop
In the signworks
Admiring the hanging baskets on sale