Warrington Social Care
Employment Partnership
Martin Clark
Managing Director
CareConcepts Ltd
What made us come together?
A shared interest in getting the right people into the right social care workforce
Why did we create the partnership
 Low level of unemployment in Warrington making attracting the right
people a challenge
 Links to the Warrington & CO Skills Forum
 Good working relationships between providers and Warrington Borough
Council
 Shared objectives to get the right people into the right job
 Interest in the I Care Ambassador programme
How did we approach this?
 Attend Skills for Care event in Leeds on the I Care Ambassador programme
 Providers led a joint meeting and created the partnership
 Agreed a common goal and keeping it simple
 Got the right personalities around the table including the Council which is
crucial
 Small group of providers encouraged others to join
Who is in the Warrington Social Care Partnership?
Members:
 Independent Sector Provider (Chair)
 Independent Sector Providers of care home and domiciliary care
 Warrington Borough Council (Deputy Director and Training Team)
 Warrington Collegiate
 Warrington Job Centre Plus
 Skills for care
 Warrington & Co (Regeneration Team)
Three areas of work:
 Skills Academy for unemployed people
 I Care Ambassador Programme
 Jobs Fair
Skills Academy for Unemployed People
 Held two joint events after Job Centre events
 Opportunities for people to leave if it wasn’t for them without sanctions
 Offered Skills for Care core value based assessment
 Provided free DBS portable checks
 Provided 2 weeks of intensive training with Warrington Collegiate and WBC
Training Team in WBC premises
 Offered all participants 4 weeks of on the job opportunities with
guaranteed interviews at the end
 Provided jobs for 19 people most of whom have become I Care
Ambassadors
Lessons Learned
 Pick the right time for the programme
 Need enough candidates at events or the partnership overwhelms them
 Don’t use a college for training as it puts some people off
 Organise DBS well in advance as people do not always have the required
ID
I Care Ambassador Programme
 Developed the Warrington I Care Ambassador Alliance
 “Values based professionals coming together to promote social care as a
positive choice for employment, to improve the image of our sector and to
help the right people join the social care workforce”
 We have 24 I Care Ambassadors signed up
 They have supported skills academy
 Gained Skills for Care funding
 Promoted social care as a positive choice in schools
 Participated in events
Jobs Fair
 Planned for June 7th
 Open 2pm – 8pm to attract those in work as well as those seeking work
 Organised by the partnership
 Not in the councils premises
 Attended by I Care Ambassadors
 Will be attended by over 20 providers of care
Summary
If you can get the right people round a table with the right motivation and
who are genuinely interested in the delivery of quality care, and the council
and providers are working together then this might be something for you to
think about in your area.
[email protected] for more information