MAGIC Goes Global To Put Disability Employment On Worldwide Agenda

MAGIC, Ford’s free telephone information service for people with disabilities and mature drivers travelled to Washington DC earlier this month to take part in the 'Pathways to Work in the 21st Century' seminar arranged by the British and US Governments.

Ford Motor Company Limited's chairman, Roger Putnam, is constantly in touch with UK Government Ministers on many issues and he suggested to the Department for Works and Pensions Minister, Andrew Smith, that MAGIC would be able to share its employment ethos at this important event.

The three-day event was organised to compare and exchange information about effective strategies and practices to enable people with disabilities achieve their full potential in the workplace.

Julie Steele, general manager, MAGIC, represented Ford Motor Company at the seminar. She said: “I was delighted to be able to tell people about the range of services that MAGIC provides and explain why we insist on 20 per cent of our staff being disabled. We realise that a lot of work still needs to be done to insure the full inclusion of people with disabilities into the 21st century workforce. The seminar was an important step in that direction.”

MAGIC was set up to provide free information on driving with a disability to all disabled people in the UK, regardless of what make of car they drive or want to drive. Anyone can call its freephone service on 0800 240 241, but it is particularly useful for disabled motorists, their families, friends, carers and medical professionals.

To date, around 250,000 people have contacted MAGIC requesting information about a wide range of topics including:

• The Motability Scheme
• Where to get current information on disability benefit entitlements
• Mobility assessment centres
• Charities
• Vehicle adaptation companies
• Ford dealers
• Specialist holiday companies
• Ford vehicles and comparative data on other manufacturers' models