Care home apprentices graduate after a year of hard work

A group of apprentices working for Anchor have received their graduation certificates from Director of Care Mark Greaves at a special ceremony.

The 18 apprentices, who work in care homes and two regional offices across Yorkshire, The Midlands and the NW of England, have been offered permanent jobs as part of the organisation’s apprenticeship scheme.

The apprenticeship scheme is one of the initiatives Anchor - which is England’s largest not-for-profit provider of care and housing for older people - has adopted to help professionalise the care sector and to address the predicted one million shortfall of carers by 2025.

Paige Jones, 17, said: “Joining the apprenticeship has been a real eye opener for me. Meeting the residents was life changing - they mean the world to me.

“I thought I would go nowhere in life, but now I am somewhere and doing something I love and know I can go further in life. I can’t wait to carry on with my career and that is because of all the help and support I got from the apprenticeship scheme.”

Chanel Quinn, 21, added: “Working in care is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. I’ve learnt a lot over the past year and I feel already I have made a positive contribution to the lives of older people. I really enjoy my job, particularly being able to make people’s days better and bring a smile to their faces.”

Katie Rankin, Anchor’s Qualifications and Apprenticeships Manager, praised the apprentices for their commitment to improving the lives of older people.

She said: “The quality of apprentices coming through this programme has been outstanding. The young talent coming into our care homes through this programme has helped to invigorate our business and the lives of our residents. We are so proud to see how they are progressing and look forward to welcoming our new apprentices.”

The apprentices who graduated this year are:

• Beth Storey and Kayleigh Oates, from Larchfield in Leeds
• Charlotte Megson, and Zoe Donnelly, from Prior Bank, in Sheffield
• Lucy O’Malley, from Herries Lodge in Sheffield
• Georgia Walker, from the National Learning and Resource Centre in Newcastle
• Jade Thornhill, from Chesteron Lodge in Chesterton
• Chloe Smith, from Annesley Lodge in Nottingham
• Danika Stephenson, from Elderwood in Darlington
• Shannon Preston, from Millbeck in Stockton
• Chanel Quinn, from Kirkley Lodge in Middlesbrough
• Zoe Preston and Paige Jones, from Maple Dene in Birmingham
• Ellie O’Grady, from Israel Sieff Court in Manchester
• Jazmine McMullen and Zoe Dillion, from Millfield in Oldham
• Jordenne Nealis, from Thomas Henshaw Court in Southport
• Kennedy Jones, from Anchor’s office in Bradford

The ceremony also marked Anchor reaching the final for the HR Excellence Awards 2017 for Best Youth Employment Initiative and Anchor being named Health and Social Care Employer of the Year by Learndirect.