Jonathan lives in Yorkshire and works as a foreman at Jennyruth Workshops, a charity and social enterprise set up by his parents. He grew up on the Isle of Skye and after leaving school, became a full-time crofter working with his dad. His proudest moment is being a torchbearer for the 2012 Olympics. He was passed the torch by Jon Snow and then carried it from St Paul’s Cathedral to Tower Bridge.
LISTEN TO JONATHAN TELL HIS STORY IN HIS OWN WORDS
Jonathan Evason is 57 and lives in Ripon in Yorkshire with his family.
As a 6-year-old, he moved from Leeds to Scotland to attend boarding school in Aberdeen. His parents and sister then moved to the Isle of Skye to be closer to him. Whilst at school, Jonathan was taught a range of subjects including history and chemistry, but looked forward to school holidays the most when he and his Dad would work on the house they were building. He remembers learning to sew and helping with the knitwear business his parents set up on the Island, which sent orders all over the world.
When Jonathan left school, he became a full time crofter (crofting is a land tenure system of small scale food producers unique to the Scottish Highlands and Islands), working on his parent’s croft.
As he and his sister got older, his parents began to adopt more children with Down’s syndrome including his sister Jennifer Ruth. Sadly Jennifer Ruth died of sudden infant death syndrome as a baby, and the family decided life on the Island was just too remote, so they sold the croft and moved to Yorkshire in 1984.
Once in Yorkshire, Jonathan’s parents found that there was no meaningful daytime provision locally that would value Jonathan’s abilities and match the challenge of his working life on Skye. So, Barrie, Jonathan’s father, and Jonathan began doing woodwork together in their garden shed, making hand crafted products. In 1989 the hobby was turned into a little business to earn money to buy materials, and was given the name Jennyruth Workshops to commemorate Jonathan’s sister. On leaving school, Jonathan’s younger siblings who also have Down’s syndrome wanted to work alongside their dad and brother, and so Jennyruth began to fill up.
Other people recognised the great benefit to the workers and suggested to Barrie that the workshops offer places to others with a learning disability, where they could learn new skills and achieve similar job satisfaction. A lengthy consultation period and feasibility study followed, fund raising began, premises were found and building work by a band of volunteers transformed a shell into a productive craft workshop. In July 2004, Jennyruth Workshops was officially opened as a social enterprise by HRH the Countess of Wessex, with Barrie at the helm. From small beginnings, with just six workers with learning disabilities, Jennyruth Workshops has grown into the thriving social enterprise and business it is today. Jonathan is very proud of the things he’s achieved and loves his job as a Foreman. Since lockdown, the staff at the workshop have worked on refurbishing parts of the building, so when he and his friends and colleagues come back to work properly they can enjoy the new features.
In 2017, founders Barrie and Sue Evason were awarded MBEs for their dedication and commitment to adults with learning disabilities.
