Asda has recruited its first permanent employees to come from a supported internship programme that helps young people with learning disabilities to enter the workforce.
The Asda Supported Internship Programme was launched in summer 2023, and involved its Queensferry store working closely with the charity DFN Project Search and local college Coleg Cambria.
The retailer hopes to expand the initiative to other stores later this year with a larger intake.
The programme involves the students taking a full time course of study based at the store so they can experience work-based learning every day. There is also an employability curriculum.
Employability
Government expands Youth Offer employment supportÂ
One in 10 young people not in education, employment or trainingÂ
The aim of the course is to build work skills and confidence so the students can gain employment once it is completed, whether at Asda or elsewhere. In this case, Asda offered permanent positions to all five Queensferry students.
Hayley Tatum, chief people and corporate affairs officer for Asda, said: “Our work with DFN Project Search helps to provide valuable work experience to young adults with learning disabilities, providing opportunities for students to understand more about the workplace, learn new skills, and build confidence.
“In offering supported internship programmes such as these, we hope to give young people everything they need to gain employment with any employer in their last year of education.
“Programmes like this really do make a difference to people within our communities and we look forward to welcoming expanding this initiative further later this year.”
In 2022, an analysis of NHS data by MCG Healthcare found that the employment gap between people with a learning disability and the wider population had risen by a third.
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It found that, on average, only around one in 20 working-age adults with a learning disability are in paid employment in England.
DFN Project Search aims to support 10,000 young adults with a learning disability or autism spectrum condition in the UK into paid employment by 2030.
