Supported Internship: Phoebe’s journey

I found Supported Internship really valuable: it really helped me experience the world of work, it introduced me to employers that without the internship I would not have had access to. As an intern, I was expected to attend various classes including basic English and Maths and also employability classes where we discussed work-based situations. We got tasked with making a CV and some mock interviews.

Treloar’s internship also assisted me with my interviews for my placement. They also helped me to organise getting ‘access to work’ to help with travelling and funding for a personal assistant. The personal assistant helped me with any physical tasks that I needed help with during my working day.

My first placement, where I had a brilliant time, was working for Challengers Preschool. I gained a lot of skills and became more independent. As my confidence improved, I increased my hours from three days a week to four days a week. Challengers nearly offered me a job at the end of the internship, but then COVID struck and they couldn’t offer it to me after all.

Treloar’s internship allowed me to experience working in the community. It also gave me a massive confidence boost in developing my social and independent skills.

As the internship finished so early for me due to COVID, it then inspired me to find the next step in my own future to develop the skills that I had learnt during the internship. So I joined HCC Internship and for my placement I did admin support. Alongside the placement, I also gained functional skills maths L1 and 2, employability etc. 

At the end of the course, HCC offered me a paid job role which I had to really consider because all my life is up here in Hampshire such as my friends and social life, but at the same time, I got offered an Apprentice Business Admin position in Exeter working for the NHS.