Fairway Homecare and Embark Learning Care Academy are delighted to announce the signing of an agreement that will see them combine to create 1,000 new health and social care professionals in 21-22. The ‘My Care Portfolio’ sector-based work academy programme that has been building momentum for 7 years is set to explode in the next academic year, with over 80 professionals per month being recruited, trained and developed to boost the sector with new skills, best practice and a fresh caring attitude.
The partnership between Fairway and Embark has matured and grown to allow the success of the unique programme to flourish and with expansion plans to increase learning locations, Fairway are investing in a host of satellite hubs to expand their local service across the West Midlands.
The strategic partnership will see the MCP programme delivered to local people across at least 4 locations through the year, from Telford to Sutton Coldfield, Walsall to South Birmingham.
The MCP programme has been an outstanding success, with a current 98% qualification achievement rate and over 70% (and rising) of learners successfully going into employment with partners including Fairway. 1,000 professionals at a working average of 25 hours equates to wage figure of over £11,000,000 for the local area.
Alex O’Neill, Operations Director for Fairway commented “We are delighted to work closely with Embark Learning for this absolute game changer of a programme. We are really excited at being able to expedite our growth plans on the back of the Care Academy, helping us to build our home grown team of peripatetic health and social care professionals. We believe passionately about quality and retention as we look to build and develop our already established reputation for excellence. The partnership is pivotal to offer a broad range of people a real chance of a career in health and social care and to offer a truly vocational level of care and support. To be able to stretch our reach across the wider West Midlands and beyond gives us a huge chance to be right at the heart of communities offering real jobs to real people.”
Eyad Hanash, Head of Contracts at the Embark Learning Care Academy commented “I’m delighted to hear Fairway’s expansion announcement and its commitment to job creation using our care Sector Based Work Academy Programme (SWAP). The Embark Learning Care Academy supports employers like Fairway to meet the care sector’s critical recruitment, retention and training requirements. As a key employer, Fairway’s announcement to extend our partnership into 2022 is excellent news for job seekers and the region as a whole.”
Aside from the MCP programme, Fairway have also retained Embark Learning Care Academy to deliver all of its Care Certificate, Nurse Revalidation training, course refreshers and formal qualifications including Level 2 and 3 diplomas to current and existing staff. Embark Learning Care Academy have recently achieved endorsement from Skills for Care.
Ann Dunn, Quality Manager at Embark Learning Care Academy commented “We are proud to have received the Skills for Care Endorsement, being part of a “centre for excellence” will be a great addition to the business and will work to raise our profile even more. As a result of this we will be looking forward to sharing this with our existing clients and approach new potential clients with even more confidence in the quality and delivery of our training, reassuring our key stakeholders of our commitment to quality. Achieving this quality mark has provided our team members with a sense of pride.”
Alex O’Neill commented “The width and breadth of the courses that Embark provide as well as the specialist trainers that present with passion are key features for why we would enter this partnership. They listen to our challenging demands, we always seek innovative courses to make our staff stand out and Embarks response is always positive and creative.
The fact that Embark courses are now Skills for Care endorsed is even better and we are delighted to work with them over the coming years to recruit, build, develop and provide the very best production line in the sector.”
