Jodie Bradley is an Expert by Experience. She has been working for Speakup for fifteen years. 

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"I started working at Speakup in 2007 as I had lost my part time job. I had been working in that job for two years, with it ending in 2006.

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It was thanks to a friend, that I found out about Speakup. I started as a volunteer, and in 2008, I got offered a job.

I have a learning disability and autism but that doesn’t stop me from having a job and feeling valued like everyone else.

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Whilst being at Speakup, I have done lots of things that I never thought that I would do in my life. I have spoken in front of large audiences at conferences and other meetings. The largest audience I’ve spoken in front of is 250 people, at a conference in Manchester.

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Myself and a few other colleagues have attended a 3-day conference in Toronto, Canada titled Intimate Citizenship. it was a brilliant conference. I met some new people and told them what we did at Speakup. I also led on a project called Healthy Surfers. This project was about internet safety. Altogether, I trained 250 people via this project.

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Along with a great team, I have helped to put together the Employment is for Everyone project. It was myself who came up with the name! I’m really passionate about people with learning disabilities and/or autism having a chance to be employed. Being a co-founder for this project has made me feel even more valued, and inspired motivated to help others to gain employment."

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