Shaw Trust ‘Care Academy’ to recruit and support social care workers: Meeting a national need in challenging times

The Shaw Trust charity is launching a new Care Academy in response to the national skills shortage in the sector. The academy will support the government’s ambition to attract new care recruits. It will act as a single source of professional advice and support to employers. The Care Academy will meet this challenge by bringing together the range of services Shaw Trust offers. This will cover careers advice, learning and skills development, and employment support.

The Shaw Trust Care Academy will deliver a career pathway approach to Care professionals. This offers an end-to-end learning experience from pre-employment training to degree level qualifications, leading to improved staff satisfaction, retention and progression in the Care sector. This approach is aimed at meeting the needs of those joining and already in the profession, as well as employers.

Last week the government put out a call to boost the social care workforce through a national recruitment campaign. The social care sector needs more than 20,000 additional workers now to support and look after some of the most vulnerable in our society. The vital nature of the work and the importance of the sector has been highlighted by the Covid crisis. Social care has previously been perceived as the Cinderella service compared to healthcare workers and essential NHS workers. Covid-19 has shown the need for an adequately staffed, skilled and well-resourced care sector.

As the UK’s largest employment and skills charity, Shaw Trust works with more than 100,000 people seeking jobs and new careers each year. This coupled with the Shaw Trust’s Ofsted Outstanding training provided by Ixion, makes the charity ideally placed to launch the Shaw Trust Care Academy. 

Chris Luck, Shaw Trust’s CEO, comments: “Today is an important day for the Trust; the Care Academy is our response to the national need to attract, train and support the nation’s Care workforce. This fits with our commitment to care for others and aim to improve lives.  Our goal is to recruit and to support a professional, progressive and richly rewarding career pathway for carers, which they can be proud of and aspire to.  Getting that right will hugely benefit all those being supported and cared for and that’s our ultimate goal.”

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

Case studies

Distinctions for two apprentices

Last month two apprentices completing their Health and Social Care qualifications, Kieron and Chipo, gained distinctions. The pair, who both studied and work in adult social care have been providing frontline care throughout the current Covid-19 outbreak. Speaking about their achievement, Jacqui Oughton, Shaw Trust’s Chief Operating Officer comments: “Kieron and Chipo have done exceptionally well achieving distinctions. Like all of our successful learners in social care, both showed empathy, great communication skills and were friendly and open with the people they care for. These are the really key attributes needed for careers in care, everything else we can teach whether you are just starting out or wanting to improve your skills so you can take your career to the next level.

“We are keen to support young people and adults into the sector. Those leaving school can enter the sector choosing care as a career of choice with excellent progression opportunities. By joining Shaw Trust Care Academy learners will also get support with their digital skills development to ensure everyone progressing is able to navigate new technology used across all aspects of the care sector.”

About Shaw Trust and the Social Care Academy

Shaw Trust is a charity supporting people to gain an education, enter work, develop their career, improve their wellbeing or rebuild their lives. It is the largest provider of government funded employment support contracts in England. Additionally, Shaw Trust runs a host of social enterprises supporting disabled people. From trustees to employees and beneficiaries our wealth of lived experience gives us personal insights into health and social care provision. Shaw Trust currently works with more than 100,000 people a year who are looking for work or aiming to progress in their careers.

Shaw Trust invests back into the people and communities through the Shaw Trust Foundation. The Trust supports and works extensively with adults and young people who are unemployed (NEETs) and find it challenging to enter the workforce including disabled people, ex-offenders, young people who are socially isolated and care leavers. The charity delivers large employment programmes including the Work & Health Programme, National Careers Service and Intensive Personalised Employment Support alongside apprenticeship, training, learning and skills work and running residential children’s care homes.

Shaw Trust Care Academy embodies Shaw Trust’s organisational values and people-centric ethos. All surplus created through Shaw Trust Care Academy will be channelled through Shaw Trust Foundation.  The Shaw Trust Care Academy offers a fully supported service to both employers in the health and care sector as well as potential and current employees. For employers, the Academy offers a single source of professional advice and support covering recruitment, staff development and managed staff progression leading to improved staff retention. This offer addresses the current high vacancy and staff turnover rates within the care sector as well as supporting CQC requirements. This service can attract government funding (either in part or fully) as well as utilising apprenticeship levy funding, reducing recruitment and training costs in a financially distressed sector.

For current care and health workers or those considering entering the sector the Academy offers a seamless career development route-way. Participants in the Academy have a skilled advisor to guide them through every step of their career path. We use technology and online learning blended with face-to-face support and in-work training. This allows initial engagement and ongoing development tailored to the needs of the individual and the employer.

In light of the societal lockdown and social distancing measures required by the current Covid-19 outbreak, the Academy we utilise the latest digital platforms, to offer the best service possible.

https://www.incontactapp.co.uk/