- Neovia and Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council join Cadent for trail-blazing internship scheme
- The Council and Neovia to host placements for students from two local special schools
- Award-winning employment scheme celebrates its fifth year
Young people with learning needs and autism are set to get extra opportunities to shine in the workplace as two more Hinckley employers have joined an award-winning employment scheme, pioneered by local gas network Cadent.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and Neovia Logistics (formerly Caterpillar) have stepped forward to offer internship placements to students from two local special schools as part of the EmployAbility - let’s work together scheme.
The move represents a welcome birthday present for the scheme, which is now in its fifth year. Neovia and the Borough Council join Cadent and its service providers, 14Forty, CBRE and Pertemps.
Cadent’s EmployAbility champion, Dave Tilley, said: “It’s great to welcome Neovia and the Borough Council to EmployAbility – we couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.
“Growing the scheme in this way will create life changing opportunities for more young people, as well as bringing untapped talent into more of our businesses in Hinckley. The opportunity was born out of the Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council Employment and Skills Task Force which is bringing our business community together to do some great work for the borough.
“Over the last five years, 38 interns have passed through our doors. Of those, 73% gained work at the end of the scheme, compared with national figures of just 6.8% of people with learning disabilities* and 16% of people with autism**.”
Having completed their first placements at Cadent’s Brick Kiln Street offices, 19-year-old Karl, from Hinckley’s Dorothy Goodman School, and 18-year-old Lewis, of Nuneaton’s Oakwood School, will be starting new placements at the Borough Council and Neovia in January for three months.
Sharon Stacey, Director of Community Services, at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, said: “We are keen to promote apprenticeships and employment throughout the borough so we are very proud to welcome our first EmployAbility intern to one of our busiest service areas.
“We have been impressed by the positive impact EmployAbility has on both the interns and employees and by the high standards of their work. We look forward to Karl joining us in the New Year.”
Justin Colllingwood, Operations Director of Neovia Logistics, said: “This is about giving young people opportunities to succeed.
“I left school at 15 with minimal opportunities available to me but I wanted to get on in life and someone gave me a chance. For me it’s about giving Lewis the same opportunity that I had.”
Cadent’s third intern this year, Callum, of Dorothy Goodman School, will take up his second placement with the company.
Cadent is one of only a handful of UK companies with a specially designed strategy to help students with learning needs and disabilities gain job skills. The company partners with local special schools and offers year-long internships.
The programme builds their confidence, gives them valuable skills and boosts their chances of landing jobs and college places. Of the 38 interns so far, 15 currently work at Cadent; others have landed jobs with other local employers or gone into further education.
ENDS
*Figures from the Department for Education
**Figures from the National Autistic Society