Two young people from Swansea are celebrating National Supported Internships Day 2026 by sharing stories of how their skills and confidence have grown thanks to one of the UK’s leading supported internship programmes.
Aidan Bowles and Jamie Leigh Webber are two of the supported interns at Amazon in Swansea, starting their internship in late 2025 and due to graduate this summer.
Supported internships are structured work-based study programmes for young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or equivalent.
For young people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic, barriers to employment are particularly acute, with just 6% of adults with a learning disability in England currently in paid work, despite 86% wanting to do so1, according to data from local authorities.
The supported internship programme at Amazon was launched in 2021 in a bid to see more young people with SEND enter the workforce. It was expanded in 2023 through an ongoing partnership with national charity DFN Project Search. Since the launch of the programme, almost 300 young people have started a supported internship with Amazon, making the company the UK’s largest private sector provider of supported internships.
Supported internships at Amazon combine classroom education and practical work experience in a number of roles; all within an Amazon fulfilment centre, where items are stored, packed and shipped. More than 80 people who have completed a supported internship at Amazon have gone on to secure permanent roles at the company.
During the initial pilot of the Amazon supported internship programme in 2021, three people graduated from the scheme. Aidan and Jamie Leigh are among more than 130 people with SEND who will graduate from a supported internship across 25 Amazon sites this year. They’ve shared what they’ve learned whilst working at Amazon to inspire others to take part in the programme.
At 19 years old, the pair are already learning what it means to hold down a full-time job – and doing it inside one of the busiest warehouses in Wales.
Aidan and Jamie Leigh are currently taking part in a Supported Internship programme at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Swansea. Before arriving, they had been studying at Gower College in Swansea, undertaking an Independent Living Skills course that covered practical life skills like cooking and travel. Neither had set foot in a warehouse before. Both arrived with nerves but say they were quickly put at ease by the warmth of the Amazon team around them.
“The support from the Amazon team has been amazing – they are really helpful when you ask them basically anything,” said Aidan. “No matter how small the problem, if you ask whatever associate is working with you, they’ll most likely know what to do. You just need to be brave enough to ask the question.”
Jamie Leigh has experienced a similar growth in confidence since last year.
“Before I started, I didn’t think I was going to be able to do it,” she said. “But once you actually get into it, you realise it’s completely fine. I much prefer practical things, and I definitely have enjoyed being in the workplace so much more than full-time college,” she said.
Jamie Leigh shared advice to anyone who is nervous about embarking on a supported internship, saying:
“Just look at how far you’ve already progressed. Don’t go assuming the worst, because nothing is ever as bad as you think it’s going to be. It’s so much better.”
Since starting, both interns have been working across picking and stowing, two of the core roles on the warehouse floor. The scale of the operation is considerable. The fulfilment centre contains around 4.2 million individual storage locations – meaning navigation is a skill in itself. Aidan identified it as one of his proudest achievements.
“Navigation is one of the most important things I’ve learned,” he said. “Learning what everything is and where it goes in the warehouse, then having the knowledge and navigation skill to help me get there, that’s been really useful for me.”
For Jamie Leigh, the change in her mindset has been striking. She recalls an early moment during picking training when she felt so overwhelmed by the location system that she found herself in tears in the aisle.
“I’m quite proud of myself, I never thought I would come this far from then, or that I would even be able to do an internship. Now, if you ask me for directions, I can take you there no problem, I’m like a different person,” she said.
She has also noticed a marked improvement in her output – moving from completing two carts per day to three, continuing to break her own records. Aidan, too, has embraced the challenge of full-time work, describing his key takeaway as the value of independence – something he says is central not just to the job, but to a person’s overall wellbeing.
Both interns are due to complete the programme in June. Their ambitions are aligned: a permanent role at Amazon, if possible, but the skills and experience to succeed wherever the path leads.
“Everyone here is so lovely. I genuinely haven't had a single bad interaction since being here,” said Jamie Leigh, “I’d like to stay on if possible.”
Aidan is equally focused on what comes next.
“If this works out, I’ll keep going with it,” he said. “And if not, I have other ideas – perhaps similar kinds of work, because I do like what I’m doing. Either way, I have more to offer now than I did before.”
Kirsty Matthews, CEO of DFN Project Search, said:
“Jamie Leigh and Aidan's journeys are a brilliant reminder of what is possible when young people with a learning disability and/or autism are given a real chance to shine. Watching them grow in confidence and capability at Amazon is wonderful to see.
“We're incredibly grateful to have host business partners like Amazon, who continue to open doors that might otherwise have been closed and demonstrating that when businesses make disability inclusion a priority, everyone benefits. These young people have so much to offer, and programmes like this give them the platform to showcase their talents and build meaningful careers.”
