@shitchester

Local specialist school Petty Pool send team of volunteers to Glastonbury

A team of learners from The Petty Pool Trust, a specialist further education college for young people with learning disabilities, are defying expectations and shifting narratives at Glastonbury Festival 2025.

Volunteering with WaterAid, they’re working hard, partying harder and proving that inclusion isn’t about ticking boxes, but instead it’s about breaking barriers and building futures. The students will be managing queues, cleaning loos, spreading WaterAid’s sustainability message and dancing in the sun like everyone else. And while they’re at it, they’re gaining real-world employability skills, building confidence, and showing the world what’s possible when
neurodiversity is recognised, celebrated, and given space to shine.

Petty Pool, based in Northwich provide education, training and and outdoor activities for young people with learning difficulties in Cheshire. They say that :

  • Only 4.8% of adults with a learning disability known to social care are in paid employment in the UK (NHS Digital, 2023). At Petty Pool College 33% are going into sustainable work at the end of this academic year with organisations like Nandos, the NHS and The Ice Cream Farm.
  • Over 85% of neurodivergent young people want to work (National Autistic Society, 2022). Petty Pool want to engage with businesses to be more inclusive and benefit from the creative and innovative ways of thinking of our young people.
  • The barrier isn’t willingness of these young people, it’s opportunity.
  • And here, at one of the world’s most iconic festivals, these young people are grabbing that opportunity with both hands.

“This is what true inclusion looks like,” says Sally Garratt, CEO of The Petty Pool Trust. “Our young people aren’t ticking inclusion boxes, They deserve the spotlight on the same one. At Glastonbury, we’re not just seeing inclusion in action, we’re seeing the future workforce, full of talent, resilience, and potential. When young people are empowered to be independent, to be seen, and to be heard, they’re not just work-ready they’re life-ready.”

“It’s time to reframe the narrative. Let’s move beyond awareness and into celebration. Let’s make room not just for inclusion, but for recognition, respect, and representation. Let’s celebrate neurodivergent young people doing what society too often says they “can’t. Let’s show the world what true inclusion really looks like. ”

For more information about the work done by Petty Pool visit https://www.pettypool.org.uk/