Anchor apprenticeships - Ryan’s experience

My name is Ryan, and I’m a care assistant at Teal Beck House care home in Otley, thanks to Anchor’s apprenticeship scheme. 

I started at Teal Beck in July 2015 as an apprentice. It’s a 52 room care home in Yorkshire and no two days are ever the same, which makes this a very challenging and rewarding place to work. During my first few weeks I quickly learnt that team work is really important at Teal Beck. We all pull together to help each other give the people living with us here great care and interesting days.

I really enjoy it here and was very proud to be appointed as a care assistant in October. I still get to finish my apprenticeship and keep in touch with the other apprentices that joined Anchor at the same time as me, it’s really interesting to hear how everyone is finding working in care. So far I have completed over half of my NVQ qualification and my confidence is growing.

So what’s a typical day for me? First of all it’s attending handover, where the team gets an update on all of the residents. Handover is one of the most important events of the shift for me, especially if I’ve been off for a day or two as it ensures I know about any changes in resident’s health or wellbeing requirements and have the right information to meet their needs.

Today I’m on a morning shift which consists of supporting residents to get out of bed, get washed and dressed, and escorting them to the dining room for breakfast if they wish. Encouraging resident’s independence as much as possible is very important to me as I like seeing people participating in a range of meaningful activities and doing the things they enjoy and are used to.

The thing I love most about my job is the interaction with the older people living here at Teal Beck, seeing them smile, listening to their life stories, and in general having a laugh.

I’m really pleased I joined Anchor's apprenticeship scheme, I’m working alongside experienced colleagues and supported in dealing with real life situations in a working environment. I would definitely recommend this scheme to other young people wanting to work in care.

Ryan Bull is a Care Assistant at Teal Beck House, and Anchor apprentice