First Powys Health and Care Academy students take up work placements

The first recruits to the new Powys Health and Care Academy have begun their work placements. They will be supporting community Mental Health services in Newtown and Welshpool.

Three young adults have taken on roles at the Fan Gorau Unit in Newtown and at the Bryntirion Resource Centre in Welshpool, as part of the UK Government-funded Kickstart Scheme, with a fourth due to join them early next week (16 August).

They will be providing administrative support to teams helping older adults and providing adult community mental health services for 25 hours a week, for the next six months. As part of their work placements, they will undertake a programme of learning, equipping them with skills and knowledge related to the health and social care sector.

Through the Academy, the Kickstart Scheme is supporting employers to create jobs for 16 to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit, who are at risk of long-term unemployment. And during their six months, students will receive training to help them secure future employment and coaching from a workplace mentor.

The new students include Rhys Warburton, aged 21, who has taken up a work placement at the Bryntirion Resource Centre in Welshpool. He is from Llandyssil, near Montgomery, and was previously volunteering at the Severn Hospice Charity Shop in Newtown.

“I was really pleased to get this Kickstart placement and hope to develop a career in admin,” said Rhys.

There are also Kickstart Scheme vacancies through the Academy for catering assistants and domestic assistants/porters at Llandrindod Wells, Newtown, Ystradgynlais, Brecon and Welshpool; for administrative assistants at Newtown and Bronllys; and health care support workers within therapies teams based in Newtown and Brecon. With more roles across the health and care sector coming online in the coming months.

If you are driven, committed and keen to make a difference to health and care services in Powys, and are eligible for the Kickstart Scheme, we want to hear from you! Get in touch with your Department for Work and Pensions work coach or email: Powys.OD@wales.nhs.uk Start dates for work placements are available until the end of this year.

Powys Health and Care Academy (HCA) has been set up by Powys Regional Partnership Board (RPB) which is made up of a range of public bodies and other representatives, including Powys County Council, Powys Teaching Health Board and Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations, who are working together to improve the health and wellbeing of the county’s residents.

Cllr Myfanwy Alexander, Chair of Powys RPB, said: “It’s great to see the Kickstart project helping young local people take their first steps to rewarding careers in health and social care. We know there are great pathways for ambitious people in this sector and we hope these three young people will take advantage of all the opportunities we have here in Powys.”

Powys HCA will be offering face-to-face and digital learning opportunities through four schools – a School of Research, Development and Innovation, a School of Leadership, a School of Volunteers and Carers, and a School of Professional and Clinical Education and Training – to employees in the health and care sector, to those looking for a career in the sector and to volunteers and unpaid carers who support the sector.

It is also offering advice and training to those looking for a new career in health and care, with the help of NPTC Group of Colleges, through the Powys Health and Care Skills Hwb.

To find out more call 0845 4086 253, email pathwaystraining@nptcgroup.ac.uk or visit the NPTC Group of Colleges website: Powys Health and Care Skills Hwb - NPTC Group of Colleges

Powys HCA also has apprenticeship opportunities for health care support workers, who would be based on in-patient wards in the county’s hospitals. To find out more, or for other enquiries about Powys HCA, please contact: Powys.OD@wales.nhs.uk