The University of Aberdeen is supporting this year's National Supported Internship Day, which highlights the importance of helping young people with a learning disability or autism to access meaningful employment.
King’s College Chapel was illuminated in orange on Friday 27 March to mark the day. Supported Internships are structured, workâbased study programmes for young people aged 16 to 24 with Additional Support Needs (ASN).
Despite having the skill and ambition to work, young people with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum conditions, remain one of the most underrepresented groups in the UK workforce.
Launched in 2023 by DFN Project SEARCH, National Supported Internship Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of Supported Internships and the crucial role young people with learning disabilities, or autistic spectrum conditions, play in the workforce, as well as the benefits of inclusive employment practices.
DFN Project SEARCH University of Aberdeen was the first University site for such a programme in the UK and is now one of over 70 sites throughout the UK and Europe which have supported more than 1,300 young people into work.
It combines real-life work experience, training in employability, and independent-living skills for young people in the north-east of Scotland with learning disabilities and/or autistic spectrum conditions who want to go on to find paid employment.
Research shows Supported Internships dramatically improve employment prospects, with recent DFN Project SEARCH data showing Scotland is achieving some of the highest employment rates across the UK – and the world.
In Scotland, 75% of interns who graduated from a DFN Project SEARCH programme moved into paid employment in 2023, thanks to the skills, experience and confidence they gained.
Professor Peter Edwards, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, said: “Lighting King’s College Chapel in orange is a meaningful way for us to recognise National Supported Internship Day and to celebrate the positive impact these programmes have on young people.
“Supported Internships at the University and our partner organisations provide young people with learning disabilities or autism with the skills, experience and confidence that help them take their first steps into paid employment.
“This work reflects our Aberdeen 2040 ambition to build an inclusive community where everyone is supported to fulfil their potential. We value our partnership with DFN Project SEARCH and are proud to contribute to opportunities that genuinely transform lives and enrich wider society.”
Buildings around the UK have been illuminated orange today and is part of a series of events taking place across the UK this week to highlight the importance of Supported Internships.
DFN Project SEARCH is a national charity which supports young people, aged 16 to 24, with learning disabilities or autistic spectrum conditions to make a positive transition from education into permanent full-time employment.
The charity offers a one-year evidence-based Supported Internship programme that takes place entirely in the workplace. The goal for each young person is a transition to meaningful paid employment.