Cirencester-based St James's Place (SJP) has launched a new initiative to train people with disabilities.

The wealth management firm has partnered with Kaleidoscope Group UK to help disabled people become financial advisers, as reported by FT Adviser.

The aim is to bring up to 10 trainee advisers into the firm by September next year, with training through the SJP academy.

SJP said a key goal for its academy is to be an 'academy for all' and the partnership with Kaleidoscope will help it achieve this aim, by opening up opportunities to people who have faced barriers to joining the profession in the past.

The academy will no longer be 'limited by geographical location' and advisers will be able to shape their own way of learning, make it far more accessible and inclusive.

Kaleidoscope will support SJP in areas such as accessibility assessments for potential candidates, disability awareness training for staff and improving website accessibility.

Kaleidoscope said there are 14.6m people in the UK living with some form of disability and more than 8m of them are in work. But people with disabilities often don't get the chance to use their talents and capabilities because of unfair judgement.

SJP said the partnerships will both open up opportunities for more potential advisers and make SJP more representative of the communities it serves.