Our Prince's Trust trainees celebrate
A group of young people from The Prince’s Trust are celebrating after successfully completing a six week training course with East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH).
The 13 trainees from Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth all obtained a Care Certificate at the end of the ‘Get into Healthcare’ programme which can be used to help them find work in the healthcare sector. All NHS health and social care support workers require a Care Certificate to prove they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to provide safe, compassionate care.
ECCH has been working in partnership with The Prince’s Trust and James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to offer the training programme. It included a fortnight of classroom sessions covering employability skills including mock interviews, care certificate modules, behavioural change and mindfulness.
Delegates also took up a series of three day clinical placements with different ECCH teams. These include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, Out Of Hospital Teams, in patient, health visiting and community nursing. Non-clinical placements were provided by the James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
This is the second group of unemployed 16 to 25 year olds from The Prince’s Trust who have been trained by ECCH. Last year ECCH welcomed 12 young people, all of whom obtained their certificate and many of whom have since gone on to successfully obtain jobs. This year’s students will also be able to apply for apprenticeships and temporary (bank) positions at ECCH.
ECCH course co-ordinator Nicole Hobson said: “We had such a great response from the trainees who joined us last year, so we were very keen to run another programme. We developed it to allow the trainees to experience a variety of clinical and non-clinical roles within ECCH and the James Paget to raise their awareness of the diversity of roles and to raise their aspirations for working in the healthcare sector. Just like last year, they’ve been so enthusiastic and they really want to get a foot in the door so this has been very exciting for them - and for us. We’ve tried to tailor the placements to what they’re interested in and we hope it will start them on the path to a rewarding career.”
The Prince’s Trust Get Into Programme Executive Tim Gardiner said: “We’re really proud to work alongside ECCH in local communities to better support young people to gain the skills and confidence they need to bridge that gap into work. This kind of support is vital if we are to provide real opportunities for disadvantaged young people to take positive steps in their lives.”
James Paget University Hospital Training and Development Manager Joanne Shand said: “We are pleased to be working again with ECCH and the Prince’s Trust to give young people this insight into the wide range of careers in the NHS and to inspire them to join us as valued colleagues in the future.”
Three in four young people on The Prince’s Trust programmes move into work, training or education. The Prince’s Trust helped more than 58,000 disadvantaged young people last year.
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ECCH Communications team