Making opportunities matter

This is the first edition of our Education, Skills and Work newsletter. Learn about the amazing achievements of the people on our programmes.

Worcester learners start their work experience placements

In Worcester, our supported internship learners have started their work experience placements.

Lucas has enjoyed his first day at Asda . He filled the Food to Go section and worked brilliantly with his Asda colleagues and Mencap skills coach.

Stuart enjoyed his first day at Aztec Adventure. He jetwashed large inflatables that had been in the lake. His skills coach was very impressed by his excellent teamwork and communication skills.

Stuart has shown how much he is enjoying his time there saying: "I have made new friends and get along with everyone. This is the best place I have been in all my education!"

Northampton learners start their placements at the council

We have started working with West Northamptonshire Council to provide work experience placements to learners.

Evan, Ben and Joseph have started their placements there recently. Joseph has been welcomed into the pensions team, Evan has started in the EHCP team and Ben has joined the School Admissions team.

They have all been very busy completing their inductions, including getting to know their way around the building. They have been enthusiastic and are learning their roles quickly. One intern has already been asked if he can up his hours and be placed with the council three days per week.

We are excited to see how the learners and this exciting new partnership develops!

Determination leads to a job offer for Niaz

In our Barnet supported employment service, Bright Futures, we have worked with Niaz for some time.

Attending our weekly job clubs, he applied for over 60 jobs but struggled to find employment. But he didn't give up!

Niaz continued to complete applications and spoke out about his experience of the job market as a young person with autism and a learning disability, featured in an article by the HuffPost .

Since the publication of that article, we're delighted to report that Niaz's hard work has paid off and he started a new position as a retail assistant at Currys plc .

Niaz's story shows the power of tailored support, determination and resilience. Well done Niaz!

Learners in Barnet take a trip to the bank

Our supported internship learners in Barnet got to visit the offices of The Bank of New York.

Though they didn't travel all the way to The Big Apple, they travelled to London to their HQ in Blackfriars.

The group met with the bank's staff and they gave a tour of their offices where a team member gave a talk about the work of each department.

They also spoke to the learners about their job ambitions and what they may need to do to get into the jobs they would like.

If you would like to find out more about how Mencap could support you to find a job, or how we could help your business employ people with a learning disability, please visit: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/employment