Many tasks for people with intellectual disabilities

The Großraming workshop of Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich has been offering a wide range of work and employment opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities for 35 years now. The aim is to further expand cooperation with companies in the region in the future. The people with disabilities who work here are looking for new contract work.

There are currently 25 people employed in the Lebenshilfe workshop in Großraming, five of whom have been there since it started in 1989. They make various products from wood, textiles, paper and other materials. They weave, for example, and also make candles.

For several years, work has been underway to open up the Lebenshilfe workshops to the social space, with the focus being on external orientation. People with disabilities carry out various jobs for companies in the workshop and also work directly in other companies on an hourly basis in the form of “integrative employment”. This does not create an employment relationship. The employees remain insured with Lebenshilfe, and the employer does not incur any additional wage costs. This area is to be expanded further.

For example, around 13 employees of the Großraming workshop have been travelling to the Sonnleithner company regularly since 2016. Last year, a cooperation with the municipality of Großraming was also started. People with disabilities cook here for the Healthy Community and help clean the community. In the workshop, tubes are filled for the company SKF, preparatory work for window frames is carried out for Helopal, crosses are designed for parishes for children receiving their first communion, and candles are produced for confirmations. The workshop is currently looking for other companies with whom it can work together in various ways.

“We have now had a massive generational change. There are currently a lot of young employees in the workshop. They in particular want to get out into society, interact with others and do meaningful work,” says workshop manager Nina Spale.

People with disabilities are often underestimated, but they have many special talents and these can be used in a wide variety of areas: “If you show our employees tasks and let them try them out, then a lot is possible.” One employee would like to work in a nail salon, several others would like to work with animals.

• For companies interested in cooperating with the Lebenshilfe-Werkstätte: Mail to ltg.ws-grossraming@ooe.lebenshilfe.org or by phone at 07254 7291