Project SEARCH success at the PRUH

15 January 2025 - Erica Moyle, Project SEARCH intern secures role as a Healthcare Assistant.

In the 2023-24 academic year, the Trust partnered with DFN Project SEARCH and local organisations to deliver an internship scheme at the PRUH to provide work experience for young adults with learning disabilities and/or autism.

Erica Moyle was one of seven interns who took part in Project SEARCH at the PRUH last year, and became a full-time member of staff at the Trust in September 2024.

Erica now works at the PRUH as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA), and said that taking part in Project SEARCH has helped her grow as a person: “I have gained a lot of confidence along the way,” Erica said: “I got lots of encouragement and support from my tutor Dave King and the job coaches at Bromley Mencap to push me outside my comfort zone.

“It also made me realise that I have come a long way and I did not expect to become an HCA.”

To deliver Project SEARCH at the PRUH, the Trust partners with London South East Colleges Bromley, Bromley Council and Bromley Mencap to help young people gain work experience and help them find paid employment post-education.

Six months on from graduation in June 2024, Erica used the skills she gained on Project SEARCH to secure a full-time role at the Trust as an HCA.

Erica, who works in the Acute Medical Unit 1 (EAU) and M9 at the PRUH, says that since starting in her full-time role, her colleagues have supported her in her transition from education: “My team is very motivating. We support each other and we share duties equally which lightens the load on each other.”

Speaking about Project SEARCH, Erica was introduced to the programme at the youth club CASPA, a charity that supports autistic individuals and their families, and Erica recommends the programme to any young person with learning difficulties and/or autism: “Project SEARCH has given me a very good career.

“Project SEARCH makes you look on life differently as you learn from others and this job is my niche caring for people. I have had tremendous support from my tutor Dave, from Bromley Mencap and colleagues from different departments at the PRUH to give me this opportunity.”

You can find out more information about Project SEARCH at King’s on our website.