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work

Bath. He has been working with
his job coach Stu Neville for five
years. He has previously held an
administrative role at a local
company, a role that Neville also
supported him in.
“Stu encourages me to have a go
and has helped me increase my
confidence in my own abilities,”
says Hanford.
“I’ve learnt to get on with things
when he’s not around and there’s
lots I can do now that I might not
have attempted before.”
Neville says: “I’ve supported
On supported internships, young adults develop skills and Dave through two jobs now and
maintain jobs with the help of expert job coaches. The number of seen him grow and learn with each.
“The best piece of advice I can
these positions is set to double, reports Julie Pointer give to anyone about to work with
a job coach is to communicate. If
you don’t understand something,
Learning how to work say so and we’re there to help you.”
Internships Work’s goal for
early 2023 is to gain a clear
understanding of where every local
authority is at with intern positions
and what needs to be done.
For example, councils could
ew year, new The programme, funded by the Dave Hanford (with improve their information on
career is a Department for Education, aims to job coach Stu employment pathways. The
common theme double the number of supported Neville): “There’s lots programme is pulling together
I can do now that I
for many of us. internships for 16-25 year olds might not have resources to help them with that.
But for people with additional needs in England attempted before” The aim is for more young
with autism or a by 2025. Around 2,250 supported people to develop skills to become
Nlearning disability, internships are currently provided independent and more employers
getting a first job is hard enough, per year; our goal is to support to improve how inclusive they are.
let alone getting a new one. businesses to create 4,500 We know there is a large talent
Only 5.1% of UK adults with a placements each year. pool out there – we just need to
learning disability gain permanent, match them to the right jobs. n
paid employment, compared to What’s involved
80% of their non-disabled peers. Supported internships are work- Julie Pointer is programme lead
Employment support for people based study programmes involving for children and young people at
with additional needs has been a work placement of 6-12 months, the National Development Team
historically underfunded, leaving a supported by an expert job coach, for Inclusion
lot of very capable and motivated who helps people learn, develop
people overlooked. and maintain their role.
This status quo is being NDTi will manage the internships
challenged by a partnership to and DFN Project Search will
boost equal employment support employers to offer more
opportunities – Internships Work high-quality internship models,
– launched in September 2022. training business champions and
This is a collaboration between local SEND employment forums.
social change charity the National BASE will improve internship
Development Team for Inclusion quality, working with councils,
education providers and
(NDTi), the British Association of
NDTi; DFN Project Search Supported Employment (BASE), employers, enabling employers to Employment support
achieve a quality mark. It is also
and DFN Project SEARCH, which
training 760 job coaches.
allows capable,
runs a transition to work
motivated people to
programme for young adults who
Dave Hanford, 37, is a business
hold down jobs
have a learning disability or autism. support administrator at NDTi in
Community Living winter 2023 vol 36 no 2 13