A programme aimed at tackling Scotland’s care worker shortage has taken on its first group of trainees. The ‘People Can Care’ programme run by Kibble gives people interested in becoming child and youth care workers the chance to train within Kibble’s nationally recognised training system whilst gaining invaluable experience in a real working environment.
Trainees on the programme will work in Kibble for 12 months and will learn about every aspect of what it takes to work with some of the most vulnerable young people in the country. A study by Scottish Care from April 2017 found that 90% of organisations have difficulty filling support worker vacancies and that over half (58%) have said recruitment is harder this year than last.1
Chief Executive of Kibble, Jim Gillespie, said:
“I am delighted to welcome the first 6 trainees to our new programme, ‘People Can Care’. We know that Scotland is facing a shortage of care workers and that organisations like Kibble must do more to encourage people to consider child and youth care as a career. Kibble is one of Scotland’s leading child and youth care charities and as such trainees are well placed to learn here.
“Our new trainee programme is the first step in the journey to help tackle Scotland’s shortage in care workers and give these trainees the chance at becoming confident, skilled child and youth care workers. Working in care can sometimes be tough but it is a rewarding and fulfilling career knowing that you help young people achieve their potential.”
The first cohort of trainees will work alongside full-time staff for 12 months as they learn exactly what it takes to work in child and youth care. Trainees will learn by direct observation, practice experience, direct teaching and mentoring. After working in all aspects of Kibble for a year, the trainees are guaranteed a job interview with a view to being given permanent positions.
Marie Duncan, Learning and Development Manager at Kibble said:
“Every trainee is assigned a mentor who will be on-hand to offer guidance and support throughout their time at Kibble. We take great pride in making sure that our staff have every opportunity to develop new skills, and our trainees will be just the same.
“This is just the beginning of the programme, and we hope that we will be able to offer more opportunities like this in the future for others considering a career in child and youth care.”