Employee Casey Spehr shares devastation after being told Bedford Group will go into voluntary administration

She built her life around Bedford Group – her job, friendships and monthly disco nights. Now, this 26-year-old with down syndrome may lose it all.

• Bedford Group to enter voluntary administration

Casey Spehr becomes visibly upset when she thinks about what a future may look like without the Bedford Group – where she has worked for the past six years.

“I feel shocked. Devastated,” Casey, 26, says.

“Bedford closing sucks for everyone. There are people I love there.”

Bedford Group, the state’s second largest employer of people with disabilities, is set to enter voluntary administration, impacting more than 1400 workers across South Australia.

The not-for-profit that has been operating in SA for 80 years and announced it had made the “devastating” decision following negotiations with the state and federal governments and the National Australia Bank.

Casey, who has down syndrome, works four-days-a-week in packaging at Bedford’s Panorama site.

“I really like working there. I have heaps of friends and my personal training officers are really nice to me,” she says.

Casey also goes go-karting, food shopping, to the movies and to visit friends with Bedford support workers.

“I have my own car now and I have my L’s … but I’m nervous on the road,” she says.

“I do go-karts to (get confidence) with speed.

“One of the support workers at Bedford, her name is Emma, she teaches me to relax and to be mature behind the wheel.”

Casey and her mum, Su at their home. Picture: Ben Clark

But it’s Club Slick – a disco once a month for Bedford employees at the Burnside Town Hall – that she will miss most if Bedford closes.

“It’s my favourite part of Bedford – being with my friends, singing and dancing,” she says.

Her mother, Su Spehr, is devastated for her daughter and others who need Bedford for daily structure and social connection.

“I know I’m going to make this right for her, but how do I change six years of routine?” Ms Spehr says. “Messing up with her routine destroys her.”

Ms Spehr has written to Premier Peter Malinauskas and Federal Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth to advocate on behalf of all affected employees.

“We need leadership, reassurance, and most of all, a plan to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind, confused, isolated, or unsupported,” she writes in her letter.

“Bedford is where they see their friends, where they feel a sense of value, and where they contribute meaningfully.

“Now, they are told not only that they can no longer work there, but that they may also never see their friends again.

“The emotional and psychological consequences of this are enormous.”

Originally published as Employee Casey Spehr shares devastation after being told Bedford Group will go into voluntary administration