Young people care for the elderly as part of project to gain skills

The Prince’s Trust Cymru runs Truth about Youth in partnership in Wales to challenge the negative stereotypes of young people and bring young and older people together through a wide range of intergenerational and youth-led activities.

A programme designed to challenge and change negative perceptions of young people as well as providing vital skills is taking place in Cardiff.

Truth about Youth – Who Cares? is a three week course, run by The Prince’s Trust Cymru as part of the Co-operative Foundation’s national campaign which will give a group of 12 unemployed young people skills, experience and qualifications in the care industry as well as the opportunity to make a positive contribution to their community by organising a community day.

The group will be spending the three weeks at Willowbrook Nursing Home in St Mellons where specialist staff will train them in all aspects of care for the elderly including manual handling, protection of vulnerable adults (POVA), health and safety and infection control.

The Co-operative runs Truth about Youth in partnership with seven charities in seven parts of the UK to challenge the negative stereotypes of young people and bring young and older people together through a wide range of intergenerational and youth-led activities. In Wales, the programme is run by youth charity The Prince’s Trust Cymru, which supports young people into work, education and training

Paul Jenkins, programme executive at The Prince’s Trust, said: “The Truth about Youth projects that we run give young people the chance to prove that they have a lot to offer employers as well as their local communities.”

They will also gain teamwork and communication skills designed to boost confidence, as well as CV writing and interview skills to help them find employment in the sector.

As part of the project, the young people will also organise a fun community day at the nursing home for residents and their friends and families.

The Prince’s Trust has received funding of £420,000 from The Co-operative Foundation, the grant-making arm of The Co-operative Group, over three years to run the programme, which will support hundreds of disadvantaged young people as well as local communities.

Case Study

Charmaine Miller is 24 and lives in Splott in Cardiff. She is one of twelve young people taking part in a three week course: Truth about Youth – Who Cares? – run by The Prince’s Trust as part of the Co-operative Foundation’s project to challenge negative perceptions of young people. The course gives unemployed young people vital  skills and experience in the care sector and the chance to contribute to their community.

Charmaine said: “I first found out about the course from my adviser at the Job Centre Plus who though it would be perfect for me. I have been unemployed for a while since being a full-time carer for my Nan who passed away last year.”

The former Willows High pupil left school at 16 and even then knew she wanted a career in care. She enrolled in Coleg Glan Hafren to do a course in Health and Social Care. Charmaine completed the course then went on to undertake training in childcare, then worked in a nursery in Cardiff until 2009.

However, by this time Charmaine was a full-time carer for her disabled grandmother, who had recently found out she was suffering from cancer.

She said: “I really wanted to care for my Nan. She didn’t want to be looked after by a stranger and I wanted to be there for her. But holding down a job whilst being a full-time carer was really difficult. I got a job in KFC but the shifts were hard to cope with – sometimes I would be working until 2am and my Nan would be at home waiting for me to help her to bed.”

Charmaine had to leave her job soon after when her grandmother’s health deteriorated and she spent the next year looking after her. She said: “It was a very stressful time. Despite wanting to be the person who looked after my Nan, I knew I had reached a point in my life where I should have achieved and accomplished something – but I felt like everything in my life was on hold.”

Now Charmaine is looking forward to a career in care. She is enjoying the course and says she has learned a lot about the care profession. “Now I know what I want to do with my life and I am looking forward to the future,” she said.