Success for Seven Care Experienced Young People

Seven care experienced young people have landed jobs as Home Carers thanks to a scheme run by Glasgow's Health & Social Care Partnership (GCHSCP) and Action for Children.

The pilot programme, delivered over a six-week period, saw the young people receive intensive training and work experience which helped them earn qualifications needed to work in the care sector. They gained certificates in moving and handling, care of the elderly and nutrition in the elderly.

And after undergoing interviews for Home Care roles, all seven successfully secured job offers with GCHSCP!

The Partnership's Continuing Care Employability Services support previously Looked After and Accommodated Young People aged 16 to 26 years offering them intensive and bespoke support to remove barriers to employment, training and further or higher education.

This joint initiative was also part of Action for Children's 'Aiming High' programme, which works with care experienced young people and those with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). It is funded by Inspiring Scotland and the European Structural and Investment Fund (ESIF).

Susanne Millar, Interim Chief Officer of Glasgow's Health & Social Care Partnership, said: "Our Continuing Care Employability Services work hard to secure training, employment and further education opportunities for our care experienced young people.

"They were delighted to team up with Action for Children to jointly provide this training and I'm sure the seven course graduates will make valuable additions to our Home Care teams who have offered them an exciting opportunity and given them a firm foundation with excellent on-the-job training prior to employment.

"I wish the young people every success in their new careers and congratulate them on attaining the skills and qualifications required for these vital roles. This programme clearly demonstrates the power of partnership working and close working relationships across multi-disciplinary teams."

Paul Carberry, Action for Children Director for Scotland, said: "We are very happy to be working in partnership with Glasgow's Health & Social Care Partnership to deliver this employability programme for young people in the city.

"Through partnership working, we have secured employment opportunities for young people we work with while also meeting labour market demands in Glasgow. Not only that, we are helping develop a care workforce which is more representative of the people it supports, bringing people from different backgrounds into a sector here in the city.

"We recognise that this is the beginning of a process for these young people. However, with work-place training, we are working with partners, in this instance the GCHSCP, to provide young people with the training and skills needed to enter the job market immediately - as these young people are going on to do."