Stoke-on-Trent programme helps unemployed into social care careers
A training programme which has helped more than a dozen unemployed people into sustainable jobs in adult social care in the last eight months has started again this week.
The 13-week Stoke-on-Trent City Council-led programme provides people with mentoring, and the opportunity to develop the skills, behaviour and experience to gain long-term employment.
A total of 16 of the 20 people who have already completed the training are now in sustainable employment in the adult social care sector. And half the people who are due to finish an existing training programme next week have already secured permanent employment, as have 20 per cent of those due to finish in September.
Councillor Olwen Hamer, cabinet member for adult social care, health and commissioning, said: “This initiative can rightly be celebrated as a success story. It is proving very popular with local people and employers alike. We have already been approached by a number of employers in the sector who wish to offer placements to help fill their vacancies once the new batch of trainees have completed the programme.
“That is a tremendous endorsement to the quality of the course we provide, and the initiative is helping to boost the local economy by supporting local, unemployed people into long-term jobs.”
The programme is run by the council-backed Stoke Adult Social Care Employment and Skills (SASCES) consortium. It is being run from the authority’s Training and Development Centre in Weston Coyney.
The initiative is part of the council’s Step into Care programme which aims to develop the way the council works with adult social care employers to attract more people into care, address structural barriers to recruitment, examine the way the sector can develop new career pathways and encourage training and professional development to sustain the current workforce.
Employers interested in how the scheme could help with their recruitment, or people looking for a career in adult social care can call the team on 01782 235300 or email [email protected].
