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Uplands Enterprise Trust (UET) is a Swindon based charity that helps young people and adults with additional needs to help themselves.
About UET
UET is led by a knowledgeable board of voluntary Trustees and run by enthusiastic, skilled and creative staff.
Launched in 2012, the Trust is constantly developing, expanding, and changing to improve the lives of young people with additional needs within the Swindon and surrounding areas. UET provides a Skills for Ever offer for post 18, this offers both life and employability skills within our settings, enterprise, catering, logistics, textiles, crafts, horticulture, and animal care across several sites in Swindon.
Skills for Ever is delivered through three distinct cohorts of provision: Skills for Life, Skills for Work and Bespoke. Each programme has a specialist offer that is tailored to meet the needs of their cohort through experienced and trained staff.
Our Skills for Life and Skills for Work are both based at Stratton Road, our Bespoke cohort is based at the Community Enterprise Centre and we have recently opened a Skills centre at Ergo Industrial estate for all our young people and adults to access.
The UET Journey
Uplands Enterprise Trust (UET) is a Swindon based charity that helps young people and adults with additional needs to help themselves. UET is governed by a knowledgeable board of voluntary Trustees and strategically led and managed by experienced professionals.
The UET staff are committed, enthusiastic, skilled, and creative people with a drive to improve the lives of young people and adults with additional needs (YP&A). The Trust is constantly developing, expanding, and changing to improve the lives of young people with additional needs within the Swindon and surrounding areas. This unique charitable trust was set up in response to the need for meaningful opportunities for disabled young people and adults (YP&A) once education ends. In reality young people with additional needs leaving education at 19 embarked on a life of leisure for the remainder of their adult lives. The early retirement option was not welcomed by the YP&A or their families who had worked extremely hard in partnership with their child’s school to prepare them for a purposeful life contributing to their local community.
UET was created to ensure that this aspiration, to be valued by and contribute to the local community, was realised for YP&A with additional needs, regardless of the barriers caused by their disabilities. In response to the changing needs of local families, UET has diversified and developed their services and provision over recent years. This has ensured that UET has established a reputation for providing a high-quality offer that meets the needs of wide range YP&A, while still holding fast to their vision.
What about a Farm…
The UET farm at South Leigh established in 2013, offers young people and adults the chance to engage and interact with livestock and learn life skills in health and safety, environmental care, life processes and horticulture. Being fully inclusive, the farm enabled all the YP&A to interact with peers and staff while taking part in practical, hands-on experience regardless of their ability. Our fully equipped workshop, and selection of small animals through to chickens, a pony and the farm dogs provided a varied and friendly environment. In September 2022 the farm offered changed and become a UET sole use site for the YP&A that access our Skills for Ever programme, it still provides an engaging and interactive experience for YP&A, developing all the same skills and remains accessible and inclusive to all.
Then Horizons College
The college opened in September 2013 as a community-based specialist college offering educational opportunities for learners aged 16 - 25 years old with a wide range of special needs. The college grew rapidly from 10 learners in September 2013 to over 80 learners in September 2020. The college played a major role in the UET’s development, but the rapid growth and focus on education outcomes meant that the transfer of the college to the educational family of the emerging Brunel SEN MAT was in the best interests of the college and the remaining UET non-education activity. Following the launch of the Brunel SEN Multi Academy Trust (BSM) in September 2018, Horizons began the transition to join its educational partners. This was achieved through the establishment of the BSM subsidiary company Brunel Education (BE), which enabled Horizons College to transfer to BE on 31st August 2019.
Followed by the development of the post-education Skills Offer…
As the college grew and developed, the College learners needed a quality post-education offer that continued to develop and maintain the skills learnt through school and college. UET was committed to supporting the College leavers and their families, so created a post-education skills-based offer that ensured skills learnt were applied through a range of work and life skills opportunities. Skills for Work and Skills for Life became a quality post-education programme promoting independence and life in the community.
This well-respected Skills offer further developed with the addition of a Bespoke Skills programme in September 2019 that was created to be accessible by YP&A that needed a fully individualised package with a focus on functional activity leading to enterprise opportunities.
In 2020, UET further diversified…
Although 2020 saw UET remove the retail activity it also saw the implementation of a new service UET Short Breaks, a respite provision for children and young people (C&YP) with SEND and their families. This new Short Breaks service was accompanied by the lease of an exciting new premises which will allow for further diversification through increasing and developing the offer for children from 5 – 18 years. As with the College, Short Breaks has now also become part of the Brunel family and as of April 2023 is part of Brunel Education.