Liverpool City Council is committed to helping residents into work, whether it’s getting back into work after a period of unemployment or young people securing their very first role.
One group that can often find it tough to find roles are people with a learning disability or autism, with just 4.1 per cent in the north west in paid employment but many of them wanting to find work.
For over five years, the council has had a successful supported internship programme, which helps about 50 young people with learning difficulties or who are neurodivergent each year to experience employment through a personalised work-study programme.
And now the local authority is also offering a further type of support to this group of young people – the Empower Job Design Programme which sees job roles customised or created by employers to suit an individual’s skills.
For #YouthEmploymentWeek, 7-11 July, we are celebrating Charlie Newall who was part of the programme’s first cohort in September 2024.
After registering on Liverpool in Work’s Ways to Work programme, Charlie attended Granby Adult Learning Centre where he learned employment skills and was assigned a job coach.
Stephen Patterson, Charlie’s job coach, identified West Derby Medical Centre as an ideal place for Charlie to have a paid placement in the admin team for three months which was extended by a further six months and he is now working towards meeting targets to secure a permanent role with the NHS.
Interested in the Empower Job Design Programme? Contact interntowork@liverpool.gov.uk
Employers can also get involved in offering roles via the Young Person’s Guarantee – a grant which supports businesses to recruit a young person for a six-month paid work experience period.
Call Liverpool in Work to find out more – 0151 233 1933 – or complete the online contact form.