Unsettling times for Camphill aired on STV news

Camphill is an international network of communities where people with learning disabilities and other support needs can find fulfilment through shared living, shared cultural life and meaningful work. In Scotland there are 11 communities providing education and social care to over 600 people with learning disabilities.

It is hard to imagine a more European and international movement than Camphill, with over 40% of the total workforce coming from other EU countries or even further afield.  Brexit uncertainty is affecting recruitment in social care, and volunteers from the EU have concerns about their immigration status post-Brexit.

Camphill Scotland director Neil Henery said the number of job applications from EU workers had fallen significantly.  He said:

We thoroughly and completely need workers from EU countries to provide the kind of communities that we want to provide.  We are very worried that the capacity for people to come is not disrupted by all the tremendous uncertainty and negativity that is currently around with Brexit.

One of our communities yesterday that I spoke to said that they are looking for 20 new short-term co-workers to come in September.  They could usually rely on having at least 15 applications from Germany and they have none so far. I’m told that is very unusual for this time of the year.

STV news interviewed 2 Camphill co-workers at Newton Dee village.  Ulrike Mall, from Germany, is a long-term worker at Newton Dee and she said:

It’s been really unsettling. You do start thinking, should I make other plans?

I mean the off and on has been quite stressful for our residents that we live and work with because they don’t really know what the future holds, so it’s a scary time.

Read and listen to the full news coverage on STV