‘Best is yet to come’ - South Shields company celebrates 25 years of training care workers

Training in Care, based on Charlotte Street, in South Shields is celebrating 25 years of training care workers in the North East and beyond.

The company has trained more than 2,000 care workers in that time and is now preparing to set its sights on addressing Britain’s social care crisis.

It is throwing its weight behind the Government’s plan to tackle underfunding, skills shorting and chronic under-provision in the adult and child support sectors.

Dr Angela Brown founded Training in Care in 2000 and works will several local authorities on how best to deal with the care sector’s crippling skills shortage.

Since founding the company, she has also helped five EU nations draw up plans to address issues with social care provision.

Dr Brown has reflected on the last 25 years in business and how far the company has come since she founded it in 2000.

She said: “It’s amazing to look back at how far we’ve come over the past 25 years.

“When I set up the business, it was just me, working on my own to design and deliver a course to help people gain the knowledge and skills required to work in care.

“Now, we’re delivering a wide range of courses across the country which have helped thousands of people find their dream jobs in what is such a rewarding industry.

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“It’s been an incredible journey, however we could never have achieved what we have had it not been for the support of our fantastic team and partners.

“It’s been a real team effort and hopefully the best is still yet to come.”

Recently, Training in Care has been tasked with supporting a pioneering project that is being led by the University of Sunderland and backed by the UK Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) - which aims to smooth the transition for those seeking to move into social care from other industries.

The company is also set to announce another two new projects over the coming weeks and months, include one at home and over overseas.

Dr Brown added: “Our approach was really pioneering when we started out.

“We really changed the way local authorities and care providers viewed vocational training and we were even asked to advise a number of governments in the EU, which was surreal.

“However, despite the success our approach has had in helping to get more people into the sector, the UK’s social care crisis – which was only worsened by the previous government’s austerity measures - has left the country with over one hundred thousand social care vacancies waiting to be filled. And with an ageing population, this problem will only be exasperated unless new measures are introduced.

“This is why partnerships, such as those we have entered into with the University of Sunderland and the UK Government to ensure people have not only the skills, but also the confidence needed to make the switch into care, are so important if we are to prevent the crisis from worsening.

“It’s something we are incredibly proud as a business to be part of and hopefully, through this and the other projects we have in the pipeline, we can go some way to helping more people get into care and relieve some of the intense pressures facing the sector.

“It is gearing up to be yet another busy year, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

You can find out more information about Training in Care by visiting: https://www.trainingincare.co.uk/.