A group of Project SEARCH Interns are progressing well on their placements at the Royal Forth Valley Hospital.
The student interns commenced their DFN Project SEARCH course in August at the Larbert hospital, and it is hoped they will find employment either before or soon after June 2025, when they graduate.
A partnership between Forth Valley College, Falkirk Council Employment and Training Unit, Serco, NHS Forth Valley and Skills Development Scotland – David Forbes Nixon (DFN) Project SEARCH supports young people with learning difficulties to gain skills and experience aimed at helping them move into sustainable employment. The DFN Charitable Foundation, is a UK registered charity established in 2014 by David Forbes Nixon with the express aim of promoting programmes such as this one.
For most, that will be supported employment and they have been taking part in placements across the hospital in a variety of roles provided by Serco. They have been receiving mentorship, support and training from – especially David Paton and Lillian Young from Serco and Noelle MacKay, NHS Forth Valley’s Employability Manager - as well as from their job coach, Jean Allan, and Lecturers Gareth Hughes and Angela MacLeod.
From left to right, the student interns are: back row (from left to right): Josh Robinson, Aaron Inglis, Jordan Stewart and Millie McDonald and front row (from left to right): Chloe Polson, Ava Thompson’ Brooke Burnett, Cody Moore and Chloe Verhees.
Josh, has been working in facilities since August, and his main job is to gather and organise deliveries of stock to different department stores. He is being mentored by a previous Project SEARCH student intern who has secured employment with Serco.
Aaron has been gaining work experience in the catering department, learning a variety of customer service skills, as well as skills in maintaining a hygienic restaurant environment.
Jordan has gained valuable work experience, initially as a porter in placement one, and more recently in placement two as a painter and decorator within the estates department.
Millie started her work experience in the NHS Stores and her tasks included counting and ordering of NHS stock for the hospital wards. Her current placement as a porter and she is utilising her customer service skills as she independently engages in patient transport.
Chloe Polson is an ex-Workstart student who has been gaining lots of experience as a domestic cleaner responsible for ensuring doctors’ bedrooms are cleaned and changed over. In the afternoons, she is working independently and has responsibility for cleaning her own area, mainly a corridor on the third floor.
Ava is also an ex-Workstart student. She has gained experience working in the kitchen stores, including stock rotation and domestic duties, and in her second placement is now transferring those cleaning skills as a domestic cleaner of outpatients toilets and corridors, and, like Chloe, has responsibility in the afternoon for independently cleaning main corridors.
Brooke has been working as an admin assistant in the Serco office. This role requires basic administration duties as well as welcoming and directing visitors to the hospital on the reception, whilst helping with staff lunch cover.
Cody’s initial placement was mailroom assistant, but she is currently assistant in the medical notes department. This means he is well acquainted with all wards and departments within the hospital.
Chloe Verhees is also working as a domestic cleaner with similar duties to the other two domestics, and is based on a ward. She too works independently most afternoons.
Angela MacLeod, Lecturer in the Department of Care, Sport, Business and Communities, said: “The student interns have been working exceptionally well, learning their new job roles as well as participating in classroom theory at the end of each day, and it is hoped that their hard work will be rewarded with employment very soon. We are thankful to the Serco staff who work tirelessly to include the interns into their teams, and make necessary accommodations for the different learning styles presented. It is a privilege to work alongside the interns and witness first-hand their skills progression, and personal confidence too.”
Anyone wishing to find out more on the course should contact FVC on 01324 403000.
