WELSH Water has shown their support for employees who are living with disabilities.

The not-for-profit company is one of only twenty companies in Wales to have achieved the Disability Confident Leader status, after joining forces with the 'Work With Me' initiative from Scope and Virgin Media, which aims to grow a community of businesses committed to thinking and acting differently about disability.

Research suggests that those living with a disability are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to able-bodied people, while insight from the initiative has found that a quarter of businesses state they have never interviewed a disabled candidate for a job.

Welsh Water aims to promote equality, diversity, and inclusivity at work through its internal ‘Be Yourself’ campaign which encourages all employees to champion a culture of mutual respect.

Peter Perry, chief executive of Welsh Water, said: "We are committed to building the most inclusive environment possible at Welsh Water, so that everyone is able to do their job, to earn the trust of our customers in all that we do, while being themselves in the workplace.

"Joining the Work With Me community is an important step in changing the way we recruit and retain the best talent possible.

"We have made encouraging progress in building this environment, but we know that the water industry still has a long way to go in making our workplaces attractive and accessible for disabled people to thrive."

In joining the Work With Me community, Welsh Water will benefit from opportunities to learn from other businesses and share experiences as well as access to disability employment resources, news and information.