NHS Trust hosts graduation events at Pinderfields and Dewsbury Hospitals for Project SEARCH students

The programme offers a year-long supported internship for young adults aged 17 to 25 with autism and/or learning disabilities.

Delivered in partnership with the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, Kirklees Council, Wakefield Council, Kirklees College, Wakefield College, and other local organisations, the programme delivers real work experience, employability training, and independent living skills.

At graduation events at Pinderfields and Dewsbury Hospitals where the internships took place, this year’s interns celebrated their successful completion of the programme.

They were joined by their families, mentors, job coaches, curriculum leads, and NHS colleagues who supported their placements.

These were inclusive and meaningful events where interns shared the valuable workplace skills they had learned and their experiences of placement rotations across various departments, with several interns already achieving paid roles.

Leah Shaw, a job coach who led the Dewsbury graduation ceremony, said: “This was my first year at Project SEARCH and what a wonderful set of students! They have come so far and it’s been an honour to watch them grow.

“I would like to thank all the mentors from the NHS that have supported our students and I’m excited to see what next year brings.”

Balvinder Singh Bains, Head of Emergency Planning, Resilience & Special Operations at the Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust, said: “Project Search is an amazing example of what we can achieve together and how we can change lives while expanding our learning and building our workforce for the future”.

For more infomation, or to apply to the programme, visit: www.midyorks.nhs.uk/project-search/