Caring Together is named as Apprenticeship Employer of the Year for Health and Social Care in Awards

Caring Together has been named as Apprenticeship Employer of the Year for Health and Social Care in the annual apprenticeship awards organised by Cambridge Regional College. The awards are an opportunity to celebrate excellent employers and employees from across the region.

Anna Bainbridge, Head of People at Caring Together, said: “The apprenticeship programme brings training alive. It puts an official framework around what our care workers do in their work every day.

“Caring is a fabulous career and this way of training students is perfect to give them a sense of direction.

“Where English is the second language the apprenticeship scheme gives meaningful, relevant qualifications to help people progress in their careers.

“The apprenticeship scheme means we can support them to achieve and develop their career with a structured progression route.

“Working with Cambridge Regional College works very well for us with a collaborative approach. The learners have regular one to one sessions and we know exactly where they are in their studies so that we can guide them too.”

Two of four apprentices currently with Caring Together are Joanna Sawka, 36, from Peterborough and Michal Morkowski, 33, of Yaxley.

Joanna said: “I have been employed as a care worker here for four years. When I heard about the apprenticeship scheme I knew it was a good opportunity to progress.

“Learning was hard at first but once you get used to it becomes part of your daily routine. I would definitely recommend apprenticeship learning to others.

Michal said: “I’ve been a care worker here for seven years. I trained in Poland with a degree in physiotherapy but the process is different in this country, so came to the care profession. I did the equivalent of A-Levels in Maths and English in Poland but it is a very different thing learning when English is not your first language.

“Caring changes lives and can make life better for people which is really important. Having a qualification to prove we are skilled to practice in this area is really good. I have particularly enjoyed learning about the legislation. Taking on study seems a bit difficult in a busy schedule at first but once you start you soon learn how to fit study into your day.”

•  To find out more about apprenticeship learning with Cambridge Regional College please follow the  link