A group of young adults have spent time shadowing staff at a West London care home as part of a programme with youth charity The Prince’s Trust.

As part of the Barclays Connect with Work Programme – delivered in partnership with Bupa and The Prince’s Trust – seven people supported by The Trust completed a three-week traineeship at Bupa’s The Kensington care home in Notting Hill. Whilst there, they completed a three-day induction, plus training and shadowing colleagues across areas such as activities catering, maintenance, housekeeping and gardening.

As well as helping the group learn a range of practical skills, the programme also played a vital role in increasing their confidence and motivation. The home was so impressed by the young people that it has already been able to offer roles to four of them in care, maintenance and hospitality.

Adam Tallis, General Manager for Bupa’s The Kensington, said: “It's been wonderful to welcome these bright young minds to the home, and help them understand the world of care and our responsibilities in caring for vulnerable adults.

“The team exceeded all our expectations and proved themselves as an exceptionally valuable source of support. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to offer some of them roles as a result, and would wholly recommend that other care homes consider getting involved.”
One person taking part in the programme was 23-year-old Susanna, who has since been offered a role within the home’s care team.

Speaking about the news, Susanna commented: “This experience taught me how to view residents and how living in a care home isn’t what society makes it out to be. I really enjoyed my time with Bupa, it taught me about how each role and person is an important part of the care home. The role in activities was my favourite and I am so happy to have been offered a role in activities at the Kensington home.”

After finishing their time at Bupa’s The Kensington in June, the team continued to learn more about the world of work by spending time with Barclays. On completing the programme, all young people benefit from one-to-one support from The Trust to help them turn their practical experience into a career.

The team at the care home are expecting to support more young people later this autumn, and will continue to keep attendees in mind for any relevant roles available at the home. Bupa will also be rolling the programme out to a number of other homes across the UK in the months ahead.

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