Our acute hospitals are lighting up orange today for National Supported Internship Day.
NHS Lanarkshire supports Project SEARCH, an innovative vocational training programme that empowers young adults with additional needs to transition into employment.
National Supported Internship Day celebrates different programmes that combine practical job placements with training in areas such as communication, teamwork, and independent living put in place to encourage young people with additional learning needs and autism to gain workplace skills and move into employment.
NHS Lanarkshire Senior Employability Advisor, Nicole Grant, said: ‘Project SEARCH truly demonstrates the power of partnership and the life‑changing impact of vocational training.
“With University Hospital Wishaw now in its 16th year and University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Hairmyres in their 14th, the programme continues to deliver outstanding outcomes, with around 70 per cent of participants progressing to a positive destination.
“However, what we’re most proud of is the transformation in confidence and self‑belief among young people with additional support needs, helping them recognise their own potential and thrive.”
With all three of our hospitals participating, Project SEARCH is well established here in Lanarkshire and is considered a leading example in Scotland.
Joan McAleavy, Supported Employment Co-ordinator at North Lanarkshire Council, added: “We feel it is a privilege and an honour to work with our Project SEARCH interns every day. Watching them grow into confident young adults with a wide range of employability skills makes our job so worthwhile.”
The project aims to help reduce the disability employment gap by offering support to young people with additional support needs into sustainable employment. It consists of a one-year programme within a real workplace, combining classroom learning with a hands-on work placement (around 16-plus hours a week) and focuses on participants getting paid at the end.
Katie Murphy, a lecturer at New College Lanarkshire, said: “We couldn’t be any prouder of them each year when they graduate. None of this would be possible without the incredible support of each of our partners.”
