RNIB College Loughborough held their 9th annual Partnerships for Employment Awards on 12 June 2012. The Awards recognise national and local organisations, who have supported College learners with disabilities to find employment, work placements and gain other essential employment skills. The College was delighted to welcome Rosemary Conley CBE, local business entrepreneur, to present the awards and give the Employers the benefit of her own personal experience of building a successful business. She was also able to share some key business tips with College learners.

66% of blind and partially sighted people of working age are not in employment. In the current economic climate it is now even harder than ever to find employment for those with a disability. With the help of local and national organisations the RNIB College have now been supporting people with disabilities into work for the past 20 years.

This year's main award winner is Charnwood Citizens Advice Bureau, based in Loughborough. Over the past 9 years the company has offered work placements to learners and are always willing to take into account the learner's interests and employment goals.

A Special Recognition Award was presented to Boots Opticians, part of Boots PLC, based in Nottingham, for their on-going support. Since 2010 Boots have offered work placements, site visits, panel members for mock interviews and are members of the College's Employer Focus Group.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, based in Loughborough, were awarded the Debut Award. They recently joined the Employer Partnerships and have already offered a placement to a learner, providing a supportive environment to practice and develop their skills.

The College boasts an extremely successful work experience programme - during the last 12 months the College has worked with 47 organisations to offer 57 students 108 different work placements, mock interviews and employment.

Alicia Wisehall, Curriculum Leader – Transition, commented "this has been a great year for us, the award ceremony gives us the opportunity to thank all the employers we work with" she adds "with over 50 people here today representing all sectors of business, we believe this shows the breadth and depth of our programme and enables us to offer every learner a variety of work placements."