Calico’s Project SEARCH team have been awarded the ‘100% Employment Outcome Award’ at the annual DFN Project SEARCH conference.
The award celebrates supporting 100% of graduates into permanent meaningful employment during the last academic year. It highlights the team’s commitment to helping young adults with a learning disability successfully enter full-time employment.
Sarah Moorhouse, said: “We were delighted to be one of only four sites in the UK to win an award for our 100% employment outcomes, meaning every one of our 2023/24 interns have now transitioned into employment.”
She continued: “We were also highly commended in the ‘Best Educator’ and ‘Equality and Inclusion’ categories, which is a great testimony to how hard the team work to help our interns live their best lives”.
The award was presented by national charity DFN Project SEARCH at their annual conference, where organisations from around the UK met last week to inspire, celebrate success and collaborate to make employment more inclusive.
Over 200 Project SEARCH sites came together for the conference, giving them a chance to share practices and celebrate the success of young people.
The theme for the conference, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, is part of the charity’s latest campaign to challenge stereotypes and dispel myths surrounding employment for young adults with learning disabilities, calling for more access to high-quality supported employment programmes, such as supported internships, in every local authority.
Speaking to delegates during the Award Ceremony, Kirsty Matthews, Chief Executive of DFN Project SEARCH said: “I am thrilled to be able to celebrate our award winners at our conference this year.
These awards recognise those extraordinary individuals and organisations that are leading the charge to change the status quo, getting more young people into meaningful sustainable employment. Today’s award winners are truly unstoppable, and we salute them.”
