Nineteen-year-old autistic student Felix is working in the field of his dreams after being placed on a North Dorset dairy farm by Dorset Council’s supported employment provider Pluss.
Felix has always wanted to go into agriculture but at college he was finding the maths entry level quite difficult to complete so Pluss looked for alternative routes into his chosen sector, which was working on a dairy farm.
Sam Mosdell, who works for Pluss, managed to source some work experience for Felix at Meggy Moo’s, Park Farm, Shroton, where the Perrett family have been milking 180 Holstein cattle to produce their own milk, butter, cream and milkshakes for more than 30 years.
Felix’s confidence has grown substantially over the last few months: “When I first came here, I didn’t know what to expect and was pretty nervous, but now, from what I’ve learnt, I feel so much better, a lot more confident in myself and a lot happier.
“My experience has been absolutely amazing, and I’ve thoroughly loved it. Being around the environment that I’ve wanted to be around for the majority of my life – I’m so thankful for it.”
For the first month Felix had the support of Sam working alongside him, to help him learn the ropes, but now he’s confident in labelling the bottles, filling up milk cartons and putting them in the cold room. He also cleans out the cow cubicles, looks after the cows and even helps with the robotic milking parlour.
“I’m learning from my experience and getting better at it, and I want to do more things on the farm…I’d love a full-time job. My experience here has been breath-taking.”
Meggy Moos owner Rachel Perrett said: “We didn’t have to make any adjustments when bringing in Felix into this environment. As an employer our experience of employing Felix has been really positive. It’s something we’ve really enjoyed and I think we wouldn’t be without him now.
“Having Sam around as employment mentor for first 3-4 weeks was very helpful as Sam was very hands on.
“To anyone else thinking of taking on a work experience student, I would thoroughly recommend it. It’s very rewarding. I think not just for the student but the team as well. It’s been an experience that has been really enjoyable.”
The Dorset Supported Employment Service is delivered by Pluss, on behalf of Dorset Council. The service provides employment support to adults with care and support needs, people with learning and physical disabilities and those who experience mental health conditions.
Councillor Peter Wharf, deputy Council leader and portfolio lead for adult social care, said: “This is some fantastic work by Pluss in helping Felix move into the dairy sector, which he clearly absolutely loves. It’s also great to see the support from Meggy Moo’s in making his dream come to fruition.”
Councillor Jane Somper, ward member and portfolio leader for health, added: “This is a great example of a young man being helped by our learning disability provider fulfil his childhood ambition, giving him stability as he moves into adult life.”
Notes to Editors
The Pluss service is available to all adults with Care Act eligible needs with a role to get people ready for work and if people choose to, they may use their personal budget to maintain an employment placement, offering choice and control. Pluss are a national provider.
Pluss is currently working with nearly 50 people across Dorset, bringing them into paid employment, voluntary work and job clubs.
For more information about Felix’s story and to see a video: https://pluss.org.uk/pluss-dorset/felixs-story-my-experience-has-been-absolutely-amazing/ https://youtu.be/nIIl2PjP4xA
