Lifelong railway enthusiast Adam enjoys first-class experience on LNER Supported Internship

Adam, 19, has been fascinated by trains since being a toddler and has progressed from playing with toy sets to taking photographs of the real thing at tracks up and down the country.

So, the chance to gain on-the-job training with one of the UK’s largest rail companies was understandably an opportunity he jumped at – despite experiencing a little trepidation concerning how he would “fit in” a workplace environment.

Following successful Supported Internships run jointly by Aviva and York College during the 2024/25 academic year, last summer LNER joined the initiative, which is run by national charity DFN Project SEARCH and supported by City of York Council.

The internships are open to anybody aged between 18 and 24 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and Adam was selected, along with three other candidates, for the new LNER scheme.

During their 10-month internship, the interns received on-the-job training with LNER, as well as guidance from an expert job coach and classroom sessions, overseen by York College staff Rachel Fowler and Gemma Sampson, which focus on topics such as employability skills, job applications, creating a CV, interview techniques, wellbeing and self-advocacy.

Adam proudly turned up in his LNER uniform to the end-of-year Supported Internship Celebration Event, held in our training restaurant The Cookery, and he happily declared: “I was very young when my parents first knew that I was going to be a massive railway nerd and that’s just progressively grown during my life.

“I started out playing with trainsets before moving on to photographing real trains and I've got quite an extensive collection of pictures. I’ve been trying to get as many of LNER’s InterCity 225 trains as I can recently because that fleet is going to be completely withdrawn in the next few years sadly.

“I also like to get the occasional Azuma train, especially if they’ve got a special livery or colour scheme. Basically, I like to take pictures of anything that runs on rails and there are only 10 types of train and five rail companies in this country that I have not travelled on yet.

“It’s hard to choose, but I’d say my favourite tracks include the Settle and Carlisle line, the North Wales coastline, the line from Berwick-upon-Tweed heading north to Edinburgh and the section of line between Exeter and Newton Abbott. I’ve been fascinated by trains from a very young age so, when I was given this opportunity to do a workplace internship with LNER, I had to take it. 

“I was originally thinking it wasn’t going to go so well because I probably wouldn’t fit in, but I managed to fit in very well within the teams that I worked with, and the people made it enjoyable. They were a supportive, kind and caring team.”

At the Celebration Event, LNER Human Resources Operations Manager Keith Herriott applauded the contributions of all four interns to the company. 

Aviva and City of York Council also increased their Supported Internship numbers during 2025/26 in partnership with York College, and Mr Herriott went on to encourage more of the region’s businesses to get involved.

He said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know all four of our interns. Their enthusiasm, drive and determination has been inspiring and seeing them all flourish has made me so proud. 

“The reason LNER participated in this project is because we wanted to give young people like our interns an opportunity in a world where it is becoming increasingly hard to get any kind of opportunity. I grew up with a sister who had Special Educational Needs and I know how tough it was for her and my family and that was in a time where there was probably more funding and more services available.

“There is a bigger ask now than ever for organisations like ours to do what is right and take action to support more young people into work from various backgrounds and I am lucky that I work for a company that takes this seriously. Tackling youth unemployment within the communities that we serve and supporting young neurodiverse people is important to us and I would also encourage other organisations to champion programmes like this. 

“Finally, I’d like to offer my huge congratulations to the two interns who have secured roles with us and I’m sure the other two are not far behind and will go on to more amazing things. It has been a real honour to play a part in your development.” 

Aviva, meanwhile, have handed a fixed-term contract to Tommy Smailes after he completed his internship in the Actuarial Team.

Kieran Nevison is also currently completing call training in Aviva’s Protection Operations Team which, if he is successful, will lead to a paid role.

He rotated around all three internship providers, having earlier completed placements with the council and LNER.

Ollie Wright has secured a paid role as a Neighbourhood Caretaker with the City of York Council, too. 

If you’re a parent of a young adult with an Education, Health and Care Plan or a business that would like to learn more about Supported Internships, please email rachel-fowler@yorkcollege.ac.uk

More information is also available here