Helping students start a successful career in social care
People using Vivo's services and staff meet students at an engagement session
Vivo Care Choices, an in-house service at Cheshire West and Chester Council, is working closely with the Winsford campus of Warrington & Vale Royal College to provide simple routes for students to kickstart their careers in adult social care.
Warrington & Vale Royal College offers a range of health and adult social care courses at its Winsford campus, supporting young people aged 16 to 18, adult learners and those wanting to access higher education on their career journey.
Vivo, which provides a range of services for people with learning disabilities and autism and older people, has been working closely with the college to promote social care as a career of choice.
While the college’s apprenticeship programmes will provide an opportunity for students to study at the same time as gaining value experience in the workplace, Vivo staff and people accessing its services have been visiting the college to meet students.
At a recent engagement session held at the Winsford campus, Vivo’s Makaton Choir provided entertainment and students helped people accessing Vivo’s services take part in a range of activities, such as arts and crafts.
Councillor Val Armstrong, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said:
We’ve seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic the vital role staff in social care have played. Many social care services are out and about in the local community, supporting people to be as independent as possible and enjoy their lives to the full. Our in-house service Vivo provides a wide range of support for people with different needs, offering plenty of options for people looking to work in social care. This partnership between Vivo and Warrington & Vale Royal College is a great opportunity for students to see how enjoyable and rewarding a career in social care can be.
Amy Yorke, Health and Social Care Academy Manger, added:
At our Warrington campus, we have a brand-new Health and Social Care Academy where, among other things, we’re able to provide high-quality training in our mock hospital ward and training flat. We’re also able to work with and support employers in both the Warrington and Winsford areas, one of these being Vivo as we had the opportunity to hold the engagement session at the Winsford campus. We’re very much looking forward to working with Vivo in the future and working collaboratively to not only support our learners, but also support Vivo as an employer in the health and social care sector.
Vivo has a range of exciting vacancies across its different services in west Cheshire, offering competitive pay with enhancements for evening, night, weekend and bank holiday shifts, an excellent pension scheme with significant employer contributions, ongoing training and development opportunities, and much more.