UK based charity ASTRiiD focuses on helping people with long term, chronic illnesses to find meaningful work and has helped a significant number of people, including those in Lincoln.
The charity received full charity status on 12 January 2018. Victoria Clutton, 37, from Lincoln, has suffered with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME, also known as Chronic fatigue syndrome, CFS) since she was 16 and is one of thousands of people across the UK who suffer with this illness.
In May 2018, ASTRiiD helped Victoria find a job with the engineering consultancy company, Altran.
It is estimated (by a 2011 study conducted by ME Research UK) that roughly 125,000 people are affected by ME across the UK, with an estimated 9,300 people developing symptoms for the illness each year.
These figures, along with estimated figures for the populations of both the UK and Lincolnshire, mean that it is estimated that 1,400 people are affected by the illness in Lincolnshire alone.
ASTRiiD, which stands for ‘Available Skills for Training, Refreshing, Improvement, Innovation and Development’, aims to help people with such chronic illnesses to find a way into work.
Individuals can sign up for the charity by registering their skills, experience and available times they can work and ASTRiiD will match these skills up with those their partner companies (including Altran and Associated British Press) are looking for.
The charity aims to match people up with suitable companies and will introduce the company to the people when a match is found. From there it is up to the individual and the company to decide if the job would be a suitable match.
The process is of no cost to the individual looking for work. However, there is a small cost to the company of an initial £50 to register and £25 per ‘connection’.
For more information about hoe ASTRiiD aims to help those with chronic illnesses, check their website at www.astriid.org.uk
