7 insightful tips that’ll help you apply for Access to Work (from someone who’s done it)
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I recently met Emma in Ruth Poundwhite’s membership, The Soulful Sales Society*. In her intro post she mentioned about having recently been awarded Access to Work. In short, Access to Work is a UK government grant, designed to help those with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions, or neuro-divergence either get or stay in work by providing the funding you need to access support.
Full disclosure, up until a couple of weeks ago, I’d never heard of it. It was brought to my attention by someone in my community and when Emma brought it to my attention for the second time, I knew I had to ask her about her experience.
Emma is talking from the perspective of someone living with ADHD, but SO much of what she says is transferable to chronic illness, especially the bit about the world needing more people with ADHD and neurodivergence (and my two-pence; chronic illness) embracing their strengths.
It’s really important that the workforce is inclusive of all people, for the benefit of companies and business and brands as much as the people working within them (louder for the ones at the back). We have so much to offer the world.
Although this is UK specific, it would be worth checking what/if funding is available in your part of the world.
Over to Emma.
How did you find out about Access to Work?
I can't remember exactly, I think various different people mentioned it to me and I might have seen it on TikTok. I basically had a look into it, I had a look on the Facebook group: Access to Work which gave me some support, and I looked into what kind of support [Access To Work] would be.
From what I can understand, for people with ADHD - and [Access to Work] is basically for anyone with disabilities - but for people with ADHD it can be an ADHD coach, a workplace assessment where they’ll be able to see if there's any tools you can have, and/or a support worker.
I started the process and I spoke to an ADHD coach that I’d found on Facebook. I found the whole process of applying for Access to Work quite tricky - it is not ADHD friendly at all! It's quite complicated but I did manage to get it going and I was awarded the hours for coach, so I started working with Jo Richards. She explained a lot more about Access to Work; what I could I get through it, what support I could access, the system and how to best use the system, etc.
I guess the short answer is; I found out about it through various different mentions on social media - but in particular TikTok and the Facebook group for ADHD people/Access to Work (generally).
How did you know Access to Work was right for you? Did you quickly get ideas about how you would use the grant.
I don't know if I felt like it was right for me but I could see the benefits of having it.
I already knew - because I’d started working with an ADHD coach - the benefits and also the challenges that you have as an ADHD person, and to be honest a lot of guilt came with that as well.
I felt like I'd tumbled along and coped up until this point, so I felt guilty about applying for this kind of support. But the more you learn about ADHD and the further I got with my diagnosis - and being on meds - made me realise how much I had been struggling with, and the physical and mental energy that went into that.
Knowing that I could have somebody who could proofread my work, who could help with difficult processes that I struggled with, who could help with things like bookkeeping, etc. That made me feel a lot better about going for it. The more I read into it, a lot of people who run big businesses and entrepreneurial businesses are ADHD, and they’ve done well because they focus on what works well with them. So, being the inventors, the creatives, the out of the box thinkers - they outsource the things that they've really struggled with, and that's how they moved forwards.
So essentially, by not applying for it, I was only holding myself back and stopping the amount of people that I could support.
What ideas did you then have about how you could personally use the grant?
I still felt like it wasn't completely obvious and, actually, my ADHD coach was incredible. She has a spreadsheet with all the ways that people can be helped and supported.
Actually, in the workplace assessment call that I had, they had lots of suggestions for the kind of things I could have in place that would help.
How did you navigate the application process? Was there anything that made it easier? Were there any hurdles you encountered?
I first went through the process and I was told on my first call I didn't need a support worker, I didn't need a workplace assessment, but an ADHD coach would be fine.
It was unfortunate that it was somebody who, I think, it was their first day or first week of doing it and they perhaps weren’t as informed…and I didn't know I could access those things as well.
In speaking to my ADHD coach about that she said; no, that's wrong. That's not all you should be able to access and she referred me to an agency who deals with a process for you.
They can take over, they can chase the emails, they can check the forms for you. There's a lot of these agencies popping up now; they usually have a team of VA’s, etc., so that when you get the funding, they can then support you further along. There is the support out there to help you through the application process and their fees come out of the funding, so it's not even something you necessarily have to pay for upfront.
I would highly recommend having a look at some of these agencies because it’s not an easy process at all if you have ADHD. I really struggle with forms and there was a lot of form filling. I don't think it's very clear how to fill in a lot of the forms and I was very lucky to be coached through that.
If you can get support, definitely do get support, because it will just make it so much easier.
How long did the process take overall? From the start of your application to receiving the grant.
I'm not 100% sure because it was a tricky one! When they realised I’d been given the wrong amount, the agency put in a complaint for me.
I want to say probably about a year for me because we had to go through that process of the cancellation and complaints. It all comes in at different times as well. The workplace assessment - I think I had a call for that about a month ago. The support worker hours they were fine with, and I already had the ADHD coaching.
I was approved last September/October, so I’d already started working with a coach, so with that side covered, I was able to go through the process of the complaint and the review whilst still getting the coaching.
How has the Access to Work grant helped you? How do you use it and what difference has it made to what you're able to achieve in your work?
The ADHD coaching has been incredible for me. Understanding my brain, understanding a couple of comorbidities; I probably have dyslexia and dyscalculia. It's been really useful to know that, to understand my motivation and how my brain works.
As a coach myself, I'm obviously a big fan of coaching, but to have another level of ADHD understanding is really helpful.
In terms of the hours (of support); I have got quite a few hours a week now which means that I can outsource things that I really really struggle with. That can range from admin, it can be dealing with some of the workflows for when I'm onboarding clients. It can be little things like (one thing I've been doing for a couple of years now which will fall under this) my VA taking the content I’ve written for the newsletter and then formatting it, putting in ConvertKit for me, and scheduling it.
One big problem as an ADHDer that I have is finishing things. To have someone there as a support team that can finish jobs, or make sure the jobs get finished, has been such a game changer. It's really, really helped me in my business.
I will be looking at using a bookkeeper soon too. There's lots of different things that you can use them for and actually, I'm an Access to Work worker for one of my clients; I'm social media manager for them. I help them a lot with social media and the tech side of things, because they really struggle with that side.
So there are lots of different ways that you can use Access to Work and support workers, and I definitely recommend having a good look at all the different options.
If you’re not sure how they can help, sit down and think about the week that you just had, or the week that you've got coming, and think about what you struggle with most. What do you really struggle to motivate yourself to do? Or do you make mistakes? Those are the things that you probably really need the support with.
Is there any advice that you'd give to someone who’s thinking of applying?
If you can, go to one of the admin agencies out there that can take you through the process, deal with the emails and the chasing, and help explain how to make the most of the process for you.
The hours that you do; one of the forms you have to fill in, you have to put in the hours that you work. It's very easy to just put in the hours that you bill, but you also need to be thinking about the unbillable hours that you're doing. Replying to emails, trainings, all the little things like checking in. I run a Facebook group and I have to check on that Facebook group. That's not for my client work or billable things but these are all small tasks and it really does stack up to a lot more than you think. So when you’re putting in the hours that you're doing, really think about how long you actually spend working. Not just the time that you're on calls but the time that you're checking things on your phone…all those kinds of things.
Don't feel guilty about asking for this help. Just because you have been kind of coping up until now, it's that survive versus thrive. It's a bit like if you had a physical disability, say, your leg. You could cope on crutches the whole time but if you were able to have a wheelchair, you’d be able to do more. You’d be able to access more things and you would have more freedom, perhaps. Or even if you had a support worker for that and they could help you do things, so you can then concentrate on other things.
It's probably a bit woo-woo but the world needs more ADHD people or people with autism to embrace their strengths and not try and do things in a neuro-typical way. It’s incredibly empowering to be able to embrace doing things in a neuro-divergent way. Letting go of the things that you find really really difficult, but someone else can do quite easily. Focus on the great things that you can do; the creativity; the curiosity; the being able to spot small details; the being able to spot solutions that other people can't. You’re being weighed down by all these other things.
That's very much tangent but essentially, what I'm saying is please don't feel guilty about asking for this help and support. Especially if, like me, you were a late-diagnosed person with ADHD. There are many many years that you've not had support and it's not weak to be asking for it now.
Oh, and with a workplace assessment, I always thought it would be things like getting funding for a more comfortable chair if you’re someone that fidgets a lot. But actually, it can also be tools like some of the online tools that you use for your business that you can’t do without. So for me, I love flow.com for body-doubling and getting accountability. Dubsado I use heavily for my business to do workflows so that I don't have to spend so much time doing admin, and I'm a huge fan of Sunsama and I got given a year's membership for that, as well. So it can be some of the tools that you're using - those can fall under the workplace assessment for funding.
Anything else you'd like to talk about?
I don't think I've touched on how many hours you can get - it does vary from person to person. I think it's something like 15% of the hours that you currently do but it really does vary. Some people can get eight or nine hours a week of support, some people get up to 16/17. So there is an incredible amount of support out there, depending on how many hours you do. Which again is why you need to include those non-billable hours on your application form, so that you’re applicable for more hours of support.
I'm absolutely not an expert on this, this is just my experience of going through it and there is a really good Facebook group - Access to Work - I would recommend.
If you haven't already worked out, I’m a big fan of freelancing and how it can benefit everybody, but in particular neurodivergent people and those with disabilities, because it gives flexibility.
If you want to find out more about Emma, check out her links below;
Website - freelancelifestyle.co.uk