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Supported Internships Celebration Day

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A very special event was held at Canalside Conference Centre in Middlewich on Wednesday 4th July

A very special event was held at Canalside Conference Centre in Middlewich on Wednesday 4th July to celebrate Total People’s amazing supported internship learners.

Supported internships are for young people aged 16 — 24 with learning difficulties or learning disabilities, who want to get a job and need extra support to do this.

A study programme is put together to give each learner exactly the training, support and work skills they need to help them get a job. Most of the learning is done in the workplace and learners are supported throughout by their employer and the brilliant Supported Internship team at Total People.

The event was held to celebrate our amazing young people. Employers and parents/carers were also invited to share in this most special of celebrations.

Gaynor Holland, Pathways to Apprenticeship manager opened the event with a wonderful speech:

‘We are here aptly on Independence Day to celebrate the achievements each one of you has achieved this year. I looked for inspiration in some quotes to see if I could develop a theme of the day around independence and what it could mean to us.

As I look around the room I am glad I stumbled across this one

“Diversity is the act of thinking independently together”.

In the room, we have a lot of independent thinkers, from the local authority, who we thank for giving Total People the opportunity to develop and improve the service we give to our learners. We have our parents who constantly strive for the best and continue to support us to achieve the young person’s goal. We have our colleagues and job coaches who are continually thinking outside the box to find new opportunities; our employers who generously give their time and support to develop our learners’ independence skills in the workplace. But most of all we have our wonderful learners who continuously amaze us all with their thirst for knowledge of new skills to achieve their goals and aspirations.

All independent thinkers who are working for one goal to achieve employment for our young people.

This year we have seen wishes come true, a few bumps and bends in the road but most of all we have seen young people who are committed to make their dreams a reality.”

Karen Poziemski, mother of Supported Internship Learner Michael Poziemski told us:

“Michael’s goal is to find employment. The Supported Internship programme has meant he’s able to stand his ground no matter what. Autism is no longer going to hold him back – Michael has a chance to walk tall with his condition and let everyone know he belongs”.

The event served as yet another reminder of why we do what we do – the ripple effect which the programme has on each learner and their families is extraordinary, we really do #MakeADifference.