News from our partners: Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust welcomes talented young interns to DFN Project SEARCH transition to employment programme

News from our partners Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust

A new exciting DFN Project SEARCH transition to employment programme for young people, with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) has just launched at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH).

Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, Shropshire Council, Enable Supported Employment Provider and the DFN Project SEARCH, have formed a collaborative partnership to give young people in the area with learning disabilities and autism vital work-based learning opportunities within Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, to help them to secure meaningful paid employment.

The DFN Project SEARCH programme offers opportunities for 10 interns, from the local area, aged between 18 and 24. The interns will be learning competitive and transferable skills for a variety of roles and will receive an employability curriculum each day to develop their work-based skills.

The interns will be enrolled at Shrewsbury Colleges Group and receive their lessons on site from a college tutor whilst benefitting from total workplace immersion at its very best from Royal Shrewsbury Hospital, facilitating a seamless combination of classroom instruction, career exploration, and hands-on skills training.

DFN Project SEARCH is a transition to work programme for students with learning disabilities and autism with ambitions to get 10,000 young adults with learning disabilities and autism into full-time paid jobs over the next decade.

Over 1,600 young people with learning disabilities and autism have now graduated through DFN Project SEARCH programmes in the UK. Typically, 70% of interns secure employment against the national average of just 5.6%.