It’s National Apprenticeship Week (5^th – 11^th February), so we’re taking this opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our amazing apprentices.

We offer our staff opportunities to gain Health and Social Care Diplomas, funded by Milestones, and support them to complete their studies alongside their job roles. We’re proud to offer this, and we all benefit massively from this investment in our staff – employees who have completed or are enrolled on the Level 3 Diploma believe the course is helping them improve their practice in their role, which means improved care for the people we support, while the Trust develops a highly skilled workforce and prepares staff for leadership roles.

Here are the stories of just a few of our apprentices…

Boluwaji started working as a Support Worker in 2021. He decided to complete a Level 3 Diploma because he wanted to gain a better understanding of his job role. He says:

“It was a good experience for me, and I learnt a lot. It’s given me the courage and the confidence to believe in what I’m doing.”

Boluwaji says he feels grateful for the investment Milestones has made in him. He says:

“I really appreciate everything. The Diploma isn’t free for the Trust, it costs money. It’s not everywhere that you can get that opportunity.”

Lorena joined the Trust as a Support Worker in 2014. She’s since taken advantage of the opportunities Milestones offers by completing a Level 3 Diploma and later a Level 5 Diploma, whilst also taking on more senior job roles, first as an Assistant Team Leader, then as a Team Leader.

Lorena says:

“I think it’s brilliant that Milestones gives you opportunities to learn and develop from the very start. Everyone who wants to develop their career has the chance to do that.”

She says that she really enjoyed the challenge of studying for her qualifications:

“In this kind of role, you learn so much every day without even realising that you’re doing it. Studying enabled me to reaffirm my knowledge and my skills.”

After completing her Level 5 Diploma, Lorena decided to take her career in a different direction, taking advantage of an opportunity to move internally within Milestones and become our new Resourcing Advisor.

Haydon joined Milestones as a Support Worker just a few years ago and has swiftly progressed his career. He’s now a Service Coordinator across two of our services.

Encouraged by his manager, he began studying for a Level 5 Diploma in autumn last year. He’s found it really useful to hear from other people studying on the course. He says:

“You attend group sessions where you hear about other people’s experiences. I’ve learnt things that I’ve then incorporated into my own work.”

Haydon also feels he’s benefitted from the support he receives within Milestones. He says:

“My line manager is really supportive because they’ve already done the course. In fact, lots of people at Milestones have done it. It’s been great to get tips from them and know that when I’m finding the course challenging, I can talk to other people who have been through the same thing.”

It’s not just care workers who benefit from our apprenticeships – we also offer them to our office staff. Dan is our Head of Workforce Services. He joined Milestones in 2018 after working in recruitment in the NHS, where he completed Level 3 and Level 5 Diplomas in Business Administration.

When Dan joined the Milestones team, we wanted to continue investing in his professional development and supported him to study for a Level 7 Senior People Professional Apprenticeship, which he’s just completed. Dan says:

“Milestones has been brilliant for me. They funded me to complete this qualification, which is the equivalent of a Masters, and you don’t get that in a lot of places.”

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