mv天美mv天美 celebrates National Supported Internship Day

Mason enjoys a work placement at Super Finish Garage.

Premier Inn’s Lin, Megan, Cierwen, Sarah and mv天美mv天美 Hospitality & Food lead David.

We are proud to celebrate National Supported Internship Day on 27 March, highlighting the life鈥慶hanging impact of supported internships for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

We currently have 11 supported interns at our Gobowen and Telford campuses, who are honing their work skills thanks to partnerships with businesses across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. Each intern鈥檚 work placements are matched with their future employment aspirations.

A supported internship is a tailored, work鈥慴ased study programme for young people aged 16鈥�25 with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, designed to support their journey into paid employment. National Supported Internship Day raises awareness of these programmes and helps young people, families and employers learn more about inclusive, high鈥憅uality routes into work.

To mark the day, staff, students and employers showed their support by wearing orange beanie hats and sharing experiences of how supported internships are helping young people develop skills, confidence and independence in the workplace.

mv天美mv天美 offers supported internships across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, working closely with local employers to create meaningful work placements matched to each young person鈥檚 interests, strengths and career goals. Interns receive personalised support from experienced job coaches, helping them to learn new skills, build confidence and prepare for paid employment.

Supported internships play a vital role

Natalie Martin, Supported Internships Manager at mv天美mv天美, said: 鈥淪upported internships play a vital role in helping young people with an EHC plan move closer to paid employment. By working closely with employers, job coaches and families, we can provide structured, personalised support that enables interns to develop workplace skills, confidence and independence.

鈥淣ational Supported Internship Day is a great opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our interns and to thank the employers who work with us to create inclusive workplaces where young people can thrive.鈥�

Teddy the therapy dog supports Supported Internship Day.

For interns, supported internships can be an important step towards independence and employment.

Anthony, who works at British Heart Foundation shop, Telford Community Grocery and Special Needs Activity Centre (SNAC), Telford, said: 鈥�My supported internship has helped me communicate better and follow workplace rules. It makes me feel happy and more confident. In the future, I would like to work at the British Heart Foundation.鈥�

Callum, who works at Care-Plus Horticulture, Weston Park and Weeping Cross Nursery, said: 鈥淢y internship makes me feel happy and has helped me work more independently. I鈥檓 not sure yet where I鈥檇 like to work in the future, but I feel more confident about what I can do.鈥�

Brayden, who works at Anytime Fitness, McDonalds and Oakengates Leisure Centre, said:
鈥淢y supported internship has helped me improve my confidence. In the future, I would like to work in a leisure centre.鈥�

Interns are accompanied by a job coach, who supports them in their role and gradually withdraws support as the student becomes more confident.

Job coach Julie said: 鈥淭he best part about being a job coach is watching a student鈥檚 confidence grow. Seeing them go from strength to strength and become more independent as the weeks and terms go by is incredibly rewarding. Getting a job offer is the goal, and seeing how proud they are of what they have worked towards makes it all worthwhile.鈥�

mv天美mv天美 works with a wide range of employers across different sectors, including hospitality, retail, care, horticulture and administration. Employers value both the support provided by Derwen鈥檚 job coaches and the positive contribution interns make to their teams.

Employer Dan, from Community Grocery, said: 鈥淗aving a supported intern brings personality and energy to our workplace. Supported interns are enriching to our team and have helped promote inclusion, diversity and equality across the business. One of the best things for us has been learning new skill sets around supporting and managing people, and it has given us a fresh perspective. Supported interns make our workplace brighter, and I would absolutely recommend supported internships to other employers.鈥�

National Supported Internship Day highlights the importance of inclusive employment pathways and the role that employers, educators and communities play in supporting young people with SEND into work.

Find out more about supported internships at mv天美mv天美 at www.derwen.ac.uk. If your business would like to support a young person with SEND to get into employment, please email Natalie.martin@derwen.ac.uk.