Kilmarnock is changing attitudes through education, employment and opportunity; empowering people with disabilities to lead purposeful and dignified lives.
Kilmarnock was established in 1958, founded by Miss Christabel Robinson, a humanitarian and educationalist. She firmly believed in the transformative power of education and that if people with disabilities could undertake work, it would give them the skills and self-confidence for life in the wider community. The organisation started with a small group of voluntary helpers and six trainees with disabilities.
Kilmarnock has changed significantly in the 60 years since its conception and now operates as a thriving commercial enterprise, specialising in collating and packing, assembly, labelling, and much more. By providing a supportive and enriching paid work environment, Kilmarnock has been teaching adults with a range of abilities, the skills needed to transition into open employment. Through professional training, social development, health and wellbeing initiatives, and ongoing support, they are showing employees their individual value and giving them the confidence and skills they need for success.
Everything at Kilmarnock is a balancing act between core social objectives and achieving incredible results in a highly competitive open market. Kilmarnock is very proud of the quality of work they produce, and it gives their team great satisfaction and confidence to know that the contracts won, are won on merit.
What problem are they trying to solve?
People with intellectual disabilities have long been marginalised and disproportionately represented in statistics around poor health, low levels of education, and high rates of unemployment. Finding employment is still a challenge for many people with intellectual disabilities. The Kilmarnock Academy provides hands-on training and education focussed on literacy, numeracy, communication, and workplace skills in a supportive environment. They offer a range of healthcare programmes and initiatives to improve the overall wellbeing of their staff.
What impact is Kilmarnock making?
Kilmarnock Manufacturing provides employment and workplace training to around 85 people, many with disabilities or other barriers to employment. So far, Kilmarnock has helped 15 of their employees who had left school with no secondary qualifications gain qualifications with NZQA. There are another ten currently in the programme. By gaining skills and professional experience, Kilmarnock’s employees increase their chances of finding employment in the future.
In addition to training and employment, Kilmarnock focuses on a range of wellness activities and provides occupational therapy to all employees. For example, in their programme Flourish the Kilmarnock Way, they run initiatives where employees are encouraged to improve poor eating habits. They also host lectures from Mission Nutrition who advise on affordable and healthy eating.
Social impact is a challenging area to track, however, Kilmarnock is putting considerable effort into developing a comprehensive measurement and reporting framework. They have identified over 100 indicators that link into their strategic goals. Kilmarnock is passionate about constant improvement, and believe that if they’re tracking impact, they’ll know how to deepen their impact.
What is Kilmarnock’s business model?
Kilmarnock provides a number of commercial services at a competitive price, including collating and packing, assembly, labelling, food re-packing, shrink wrapping, woodworking, refurbishing, electronic waste recycling, and much more. 30-40% of their income is derived from diverting waste away from landfill. They use the ISO 9001 certification to demonstrate their commitment to quality.
They have a diverse and flexible workforce of around 85 employees, meaning they can be all hands on deck to get jobs done quickly and painlessly. Kilmarnock works with organisations such as Fonterra, Air NZ, Foodstuffs, and the Gough Group.
Where to from here?
This last year has been a time of remarkable transformation and growth in almost every area of Kilmarnock. The move to Basecamp allowed for commercial growth, the launch of the Kilmarnock Academy, extensive expansion of their health and wellness programme, a surge in environmental activities, and a revived focus on school leavers with disabilities. Their dream in the next few years is to launch the Academy beyond Kilmarnock and provide a real, tangible pathway to independence for school leavers with disabilities.
Kilmarnock will not rest until we are living in a world that values diversity, where people with intellectual disabilities are a valued and respected part of their community.
