Autism charity calls on Yorkshire businesses to offer work experience

The Lighthouse Futures Trust, based in Leeds, works with a number of Yorkshire businesses to offer work experience placements over an academic year, to give older pupils an indepth taste of the world of work.

The scheme offers 17-year-old pupils a chance to consider what type of career might suit them and match their abilities, boost their confidence and skillset and improve their prospects of securing employment.

Yorkshire companies offering the scheme include KPMG, Yorkshire Water, John Lewis, Sodexho and Johnson & Johnson. Collectively, they’ve provided opportunities to more than 70 pupils over the four years that the scheme has operated.

KPMG has worked with eight young people across its IT, post room and catering teams and has held workshops to share its experiences with other companies.

Euan West, office senior partner at KPMG in Leeds, said: “We understand that the programme can make a real difference to individuals in specific ways such as showing them they can manage commuting and interacting with colleagues.”

Katie Parlett, chief executive of the Lighthouse Futures Trust, added: “Working with KPMG has had a big impact in helping to bring along other quality organisations to run internships with Lighthouse Futures Trust and students across the city. The programmes are life changing and what was a 5.9 per cent chance of those with a learning disability and 16 per cent chance of those with an autistic spectrum condition of getting into paid work is transformed into a 70 per cent chance so the more we can do as a city and nationally, the more young people’s lives are drastically improved.”

For more information, visit lighthousefuturesturst.org.uk

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