By Jodie Yettram June Beslievre
LIVING with a disability in Jersey can feel isolating, with many struggling to find the support they need. Sean Pontin, the chief executive of Enable Jersey, is working to change that by breaking down barriers and creating a space where asking for help is welcomed and valued.
Mr Pontin’s mission to build a more accessible and welcoming Island for people with disabilities is shaped by his childhood.
At the age of eight, his father was diagnosed with a brain tumour that left him disabled. This early experience shaped Mr Pontin’s understanding of disability and has driven his lifelong passion to support others facing similar challenges.
“I grew up quite naturally comfortable around disability,” he said. “It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary, just my dad,” Mr Pontin reflected.
Mr Pontin trained as a social worker in the UK to support adults with disabilities, but his career took an unexpected turn when he was placed in children’s services. He spent more than two decades in this field, eventually moving to Jersey in 2006 to help manage the Island’s fostering and adoption team.
But in 2021, Mr Pontin returned to his roots in the disability sector when he was appointed chief executive of Enable Jersey – the only pan-disability charity in the Island that works to create an inclusive community where everyone can thrive.
He said: “I found my way back to my roots, almost by surprise, and have ended up leading and rebuilding a 55-year-old disability charity, which kind of completes the circle, and that’s really nice.”
The charity was founded in 1970 as the Jersey Society for the Disabled by June Beslievre and Barbara Marie.
Initially a voluntary organisation focused on helping elderly disabled Islanders, it has since expanded its reach and services and rebranded as Enable Jersey in 2016 to reflect a renewed focus on empowerment.
Today, the charity supports over 100 clients with a wide range of disabilities and life-long conditions – including learning, physical, cognitive, and emotional disabilities.
Mr Pontin and his team are particularly focused on providing support for those in the 18-65 age group who often fall through the cracks of existing services.
A mission statement on Enable’s website reads: “We want to remove the barriers that limit disabled Islanders and inspire changes that create a more inclusive community – one where diversity is celebrated and everyone can contribute their unique skills and gifts.”
With one in seven Islanders living with a disability, and more than a quarter of them having experienced discrimination, according to statistics on the organisation’s website, Mr Pontin is clear that there is work to do through providing a range of services.
He explained that Enable offers support groups, guidance on accessing other services, advocacy for disability rights, and equipment provision – including wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, and beds.
But for Mr Pontin, the charity’s work goes beyond simply providing resources – it’s about creating an environment where people feel comfortable reaching out for help.
One of the biggest challenges facing people with disabilities in Jersey, he explained, is the reluctance to seek help, often due to stigma or a lack of understanding about the resources available – or because they are hesitant to repeatedly tell their story to different services.
“Sometimes they find it a bit terrifying,” Mr Pontin said. “People don’t want to say ‘help’. They’re proud and they want to be back doing the jobs they used to do.”
He continued: “There’s almost an invisible underclass that isn’t necessarily ready to reach out to statutory services or government services. They might have had a poor experience, or don’t want to be seen as really needy. They don’t want to trouble anybody, or they don’t know there is support out there to ask for.”
The chief executive explained that the charity is working to address this by building trust, understanding each client’s journey, and providing them with flexible support to navigate bureaucratic systems and barriers.
We want to help people access what’s already here in our community,” he said.
As well as this, Mr Pontin and his team are vocal in pushing for more inclusive infrastructure in terms of buildings, transportation and public spaces – as well as shifting the conversation to ensure that inclusion is part of the conversation from the start.
“We really could be a shining example of a great place to be,” he said. “[But] I am not sure that inclusion is at the top of people’s agendas at the moment. It always feels like inclusion is an add-on, as opposed to something at the beginning.”
Despite the challenges, Mr Pontin remains optimistic about the future. Enable Jersey is growing, with more Islanders reaching out for support, particularly for its equipment provision project.
He said: “If we look at service numbers for the first half of this year, we’ve already had more contacts from service users and done more work in different ways than we did for the whole of last year.”
“Most of the calls that people contact us are about a piece of equipment, but the story isn’t just about the equipment….Because the question is: ‘Is everything all right? What’s going on? Anything else we can help you with?”
His philosophy is that equipment is often just “one little piece” of a much larger support need.
By asking “What else is going on?”, he explained the charity often uncovers deeper challenges and can provide more holistic support.
And this vision, inspired by his own childhood experience of living with a disabled father, is coming to life in ways that continue to reshape how the Island supports its most vulnerable.
In the end, it’s not just about providing equipment or services – it’s about creating an inclusive environment where everyone can feel empowered to ask for the support they need, no matter how big or small the challenge.