New Academy Set to Boost Careers in Caring

A Care Academy looks set to be established in South Tyneside in a bid to encourage more people to consider a career in social care

The Academy would seek to build a social care workforce by highlighting and providing training on the broad range of opportunities available in the sector.

Social care is a sector where there are increasing vacancies and opportunities for career development. Due to increasing demand, the number of adult social care jobs in the North East is set to rise by 22 per cent over the next 12 years. However, in 2021-2022, more than ten per cent of adult social care posts were unfilled with recruitment and retention among the top concerns for employers.

At the same time, South Tyneside has a higher than average number of people out of work, which suggests a missed opportunity.

Councillor Anne Hetherington, Lead Member for Adults, Health and Independence, said: "In line with our ambition of connecting people to skills, jobs and training, one of the aims of this Academy is to boost the profile of social care. We want to place adult social care at the forefront of thinking when people are making decisions about their future career aspirations.

"The Care Academy would seek to improve recruitment and provide ongoing development and training leading to career progression and retention of the adult social care workforce.

"We want to work with our local care providers to raise standards, improve quality and provide better outcomes for those receiving care. By boosting employment and skills and raising living standards across the Borough, we can help meet our care needs and help tackle health inequalities."

The project recently won a share of £8.8million in government funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund - the successor to European Structural and Investment Funds - which would allow the Care Academy to be a fully-funded three year project.

The Academy is set to be up and running by early Summer.