Back in September 2022, Charlie secured himself a place on DPD’s fabulous transition to work programme, Inspire. Our team at the college had been speaking with DPD about the programme and the opportunity was a good fit for Charlie, in terms of his location and his interests and skills.
DPD have been a hugely supportive partner and The Oaks’ careers team have worked closely with them, to assist Charlie through the induction and training period and into paid employment.
In the early stages of the programme, Charlie worked through the e-learning that all new starters at DPD take. He was able to do this in college, which enabled him to focus on learning the tasks of the job role itself, while he was at the workplace.
Charlie adapted incredibly well to the job and quickly became both a popular and vital part of the team. The Oaks’ career team supported his DPD mentors, on-site, which really made a big difference in their ability to identify any adjustments, to training methods or job tasks, that Charlie required.
Charlie initially started working an early shift pattern and, whilst he settled into his new role superbly during that time, he had the confidence to tell his manager that he would prefer working the later shift. Charlie has now successfully switched his hours and is continuing to thrive at DPD.
After five years at The Oaks Specialist College, Charlie left us in the summer of 2023, having fully secured paid employment at DPD Maidstone and signed his first work contract. Charlie works completely independently and is moving towards extending his hours, gradually, to a full working week.
