News
6th May 2025: Leeds Half Marathon
Adele will be taking part in the Leeds Half Marathon this Sunday as part of our new relationship with the team at Run For All. Come along and cheer her on!
16th April 2025: Gardening Club comes to Carlton House
One of our Pre-Leads, Eleanor, will be putting on her gardening gloves after Easter to start her new weekly lunchtime gardening club for pre-interns. A chance to get outside and potter around in the garden at Carlton House, this club offers our pre-interns a break from the day-to-day of concentrating on honing their employability skills. See you all there!
15th April 2025: Read all about it!
Lighthouse Futures Trust is proud to be a member of the Leeds Learning Alliance. The LLA recently published their annual report which details progress made across the network’s member organisations to support young people in Leeds.
4th April 2025: Recruitment Event – Date for your diary!
We’re proud to be holding a recruitment event on 26th June, 3 to 5pm at Johnson & Johnson where you’ll be able to meet those of our supported interns who are looking for a job. If you would like to attend, please get in touch by emailing info@lighthousefuturestrust.org.uk
27th March 2025: Job success for Jim!
It’s not every day that we get a mention on one of our employer partner’s intranets, so we were delighted to read this:
Today we celebrate National Supported Internship Day and we’re thrilled to announce that Jim, who has been completing a supported internship with our team in Leeds, has been offered a full-time position! Jim has been an asset to our team and impressed us all during his interview, we couldn’t imagine a better person to greet visitors and represent our caring and inclusive team. Please join us in congratulating Jim!
Shockingly only 4.9% of people with learning disabilities are in work, supported internships help young people with additional needs make their first steps on their career path. We’ve been working with an amazing organisation in Leeds called Lighthouse Futures Trust for 8 years now, and during that time we’ve supported 10 individuals across the business. We have now employed two after successful completion of their supported internships.
Lighthouse Futures Trust are ten years old this year and have in that time supported nearly 300 young people into work. They do it all from a small but lovely base in Headingley, where a team of specialist education and employability professionals work with young people to help support their individual needs. They also offer extensive training and support to employers to ensure a successful placement that benefits everyone taking part in the programme.
If you are wondering if a supported internship could be good for your team, my answer is YES!!
27th March 2025: National Supported Internship Day
We’re really pleased to announce, and especially today on National Supported Internship Day, that some of our supported interns have already been successful in securing paid employment. Having impressed their colleagues so much and gone through the application and interview process, some are now working away as paid employees at their workplaces. Plus, they have the benefit of a job coach with them whilst they transition into work. Congratulations all, truly well deserved!
21st March 2025: Bringing home a trophy!
Adele and Danielle were treated to a fantastic meal and award ceremony at Doncaster Rovers last night where they were delighted to also receive the Social Enterprise Yorkshire & Humber (SEYH) award in the Social Investment category. Come and see our lovely award in Reception when you next pop in!
13th February 2025: Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair
Our team were out at Leeds arena yesterday for the annual Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair. Our interns were able to visit stalls from recruiters across the city, but also able to help out on our stand. We spoke to lots of people about supported internships too and we hope to see some familiar faces at our upcoming open events.
#LARF2025 #SupportedInternships
14th January 2025
Clubs get off to a great start!
The snow set us back a week, but now we’re back up and running with our new clubs. We asked our Creative Writing Club to describe their experiences at Lighthouse Futures Trust.
9th January 2025
Social Enterprise Awards Finalist
We’re very pleased to share that we are a finalist in Social Enterprise Yorkshire & Humbers’ Awards, in the Social Investment category. Keep your fingers crossed for us! We find out if we’ve won in March.
6th January 2025
Read all about it!
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6th January 2025
Clubs
One of the things that makes Lighthouse Futures Trust special is our series of free clubs that help interns work on their social skills, and relax after a day at work. We’re looking forward to introducing a new series of clubs this term, which we will further develop over the coming months to add extras from September. We can’t wait to get started, and visiting our clubs partners at Heart, The Music House, We Are Wellness, Bowery and Shire Oak Primary School. More details and how to book can be found on the Clubs page. Booking is done via our Eventbrite page.
12th December 2024
Freshers Fair
Our interns enjoyed an afternoon exploring our new clubs which start in the new year, kicking off with Table Tennis on Monday 6th January 2025. We have a full diary of Clubs and Connections Club now planned, with booking via Eventbrite (and links available on the website). We look forward to seeing everyone take part!
11th December 2024
Visit to Zenith
We’ve had another trip out exploring sustainable travel, this we all got on the train and headed to Zenith who talked to us about sustainable cars – and let us all have a sit in their ne, top-of-the-range cars!
10th December 2024
Malham Cove
Our Pre-Interns had a brilliant day out at Malham Cove with the team from Yorkshire Dales National Park. As well as walking from the village up to the cove, the interns were treated to a clay session in the visitors centre.
The visit was also part of our independent travel work, following on from the trip to York the previous week.
- the string circle: working together to stay in the circle that got smaller each round
- discussions about equality, diversity and inclusion and sharing our findings with the other colleges
- writing down why equality is important onto hands stuck on the wall
- upcycling task: creating a new product from a plastic water bottle
- with their mentor focusing on six causes to pitch to Asda to support them in increasing sustainability
- presenting on stage in front of the other colleges and received feedback from Asda experts!
20th November 2024
BASE Conference Manchester
We attended the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) Conference in Manchester this week. As well as hearing a lot of inspirational speakers, we led a workshop on developing inclusive employer networks. Thanks to everyone that came along, and we look forward to catching up with you in the new year to see how your networks are going.
19th November 2024
Pre-Interns turn pizza chefs
18th November 2024
Leeds Creative Skills Festival 2024
Our Pre-Interns visited the Leeds Creative Skills Festival to find out more about roles in the creative industry and the skills needed for those positions. Held at the Royal Armouries, it was also the perfect time for a quick tour of the museum!
It's not all work, work, work!
23rd October 2024
Students on our Associates programme had a visit from the William Merritt Centre team this week. They brought one of their modified vehicles with them and some of our students were able to have a go (with thanks to The Gym Group letting us use their empty car park!) A lot of our young people have their provisional license, and they were pleased to learn about the options available to them when they have learned to drive.
Students visit Carlton House
18th October 2024
One of our past interns that now works at Lighthouse, tells us about a school visit:
“On Friday 18th October, three schools came to Lighthouse: John Jamieson, Roger Cannon, and Temple Moor, in total 20 students. It was a good morning, and I explained about my experience at Lighthouse. I also played some board games with them and showed them where they were going to their activities. They all had loads of questions to ask and were engaged with activities.”
Supported by People's Postcode Lottery
4th October 2024
Lighthouse Futures Trust was really lucky to be supported by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery to be able to move into our new premises at Carlton House in Headingley, Leeds. This new building gives our young people experience of being in an environment that’s totally different from school and more in line with what they’d expect in a workplace.
Wakefield SEND Careers Fair
Tuesday 1st October 2024
We had a great day meeting so many young people, their families, schools and other organisations at the Wakefield SEND Careers Fair this week. Great to see such a choice of provision for young people in and around Wakefield.
Graduation: Class of 2024!
Wednesday 17th July 2024
We have been incredibly proud to celebrate the graduation of our amazing Interns over the past few days! Our Class of 2024 interns’ dedication, hard work, and growth have been truly inspiring, and we couldn’t be prouder of all they’ve achieved.
As they embark on their new paths — whether continuing on to our Supported Internship, moving into our second year Pre-programme, or moving into employment — we wish them all the success in the world. See more here.
National Supported Internship Day 2024
Wednesday 27th March 2024
Our interns, job coaches and incredible partnered employer hosts have truly gone above and beyond this National Supported Internship Day – from holding stands, coffee mornings, delivering tours, delivering talks … to product launches! These last few days have encompassed all the reasons why Supported Internships are incredible, deeply important programmes. Read more here.
Green Project
January 2024 – Ongoing
Our Pre-Internship students have been working hard on co-ordinating & rolling out their ‘Green Project’. From starting up eco-businesses, leading environment-conscious campaigns, creating eye-opening literature, to writing & implenting Lighthouse Futures Trust’s brand new ‘Green Policy’ – our students have shown that they are taking action in protecting our planet. Read all about our Pre-Interns’ ‘Green Project’ here.
Assistive Technology
January 2024 – Ongoing
As part of our innovative approach, we are working with AssistiV, a Yorkshire-based social enterprise with experience in using technology to help people with support needs sustain paid employment. They are working with us to design an app which can be customised to each intern, providing access to advice and guidance via equipment of their choice – smart watch, phone or tablet. Read more here.
National Digital Inclusion Network
January 2024 – Ongoing
We are very proud to be apart of the National Digital Inclusion Network. Working with the Good Things Foundation, we have joined their #MakingDigitalForAll campaign. Through this, we have made free mobile data accessible to those we support who may benefit. Read more about their incredible work here.
OFSTED Results
2023
We are delighted to have been assessed as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in our recent 2023 inspection, achieving ‘Outstanding’ in two areas, and ‘Good’ in two areas. This brilliant outcome is a testament to our incredible team of staff & students, who embody our values every day.