Need a September Reset – how about a new career in caring?!
Ashridge Home Care Launches recruitment campaign with enhanced incentives
2021 – it’s all about the September reset. After months of uncertainty and changes for the nation, the arrival of autumn signals a time for change and new avenues to be explored. As children head back to education, and adults return to the office or are looking for new jobs as their sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, it is an excellent time to reassess opportunities. Ashridge Home Care is using this September to recruit new carers. The award winning home care company is looking for individuals that need a change in career or who are considering new opportunities from their usual career paths. No skills are necessary as all training will be provided and 24 hour support is available via a solid mentoring programme. The Amersham based company is looking for caring individuals to fulfil roles as visiting part time carers as well as full time live-in carers.
The national care sector has grown significantly during the pandemic and the workforce has increased steadily. Last year was the first time the number of domiciliary care jobs overtook the number of roles in care homes.* Demand for home care services have continued to rise and qualified carers are in high demand. As a result home care companies like Ashridge which offers a mixture of live-in and visiting carers are investing heavily in training and retention of their staff and rewarding employees for their skill sets.
In response to the increase in home care demand Trudi Scrivener, founder and MD of Ashridge Home Care has expanded the head office team with the appointment of a full time recruitment manager and business support manager to run its’ recruitment campaign. She has also promoted within the team to support new and existing carers. Heather Ballard has been named as Complex Care Lead, Jane Bedson has been appointed as Dementia Champion and Olivia Gadzikwa as Carer Mentor, all of which will support existing and new carers with 24 hour help to answer questions specific to their clients. The company also won a prestigious Best Employer Award in the Buckinghamshire County Council run Pride of Bucks Awards. The award was presented in the middle of the pandemic and is a testament to the its’ underlying philosophy that looking after its carers means they in turn will be able to look after clients to their best ability.
Trudi says: “My team of more than 100 live-in and visiting carers have worked extremely hard during the past year and we have had nothing but praise from clients about how happy and safe their loved ones are being able to stay at home with a trained carer. Since last year there has been a significant growth in home care as a safer alternative to care homes, this means our client numbers and enquiries are increasing and we simply cannot meet the current demand. Clearly the pandemic and Brexit have impacted recruitment opportunities and we are turning our focus on retraining interested people who may have lost their jobs over the past year. We have yoga teachers, chefs, marketing professionals and so many examples of people that have left jobs in different sectors and retrained to become carers. “
She continues: “Our focus has to be to look after our existing team to prevent burn out. Retaining the talent that we have and nurturing our staff is more important than ever as demand for our services increase. The expanded head office team are on hand 24 hours a day to offer support to our carers and continually ensure their training is uptodate and they have all the tools to care for their clients and themselves.”
Joining the Ashridge team is highly rewarding – in a recent staff survey 100% respondents said they are determined to give their best efforts every day and 97% said they were satisfied with their work. Ashridge offers industry leading pay rates (live-in carers can earn up to £850 per week with accommodation and food paid for) attractive benefits, holiday pay, pension and bonus scheme. No prior experience is necessary, robust training is given with the option to gain new qualifications and on the job study time to develop a rewarding new career in the care sector which is majorly coming to the fore in the next few years in the UK.
Paul only joined Ashridge 8 months ago and is completely new to caring. He has already been nominated for a Professional Excellence Award at this year’s Dementia Hero Awards. Paul cares for a 95 year old gentleman living with dementia and with Paul’s support his client has a new lease of life. The client’s son commented: “I have been especially encouraged how Paul has engaged with Dad, rekindled his interests, nourished them, and even introduced Dad to the wonders of YouTube! Nothing seems too small for him to enrich Dad’s life. I noticed that Paul had bought nuts which he put outside the window to encourage the birds and a squirrel to visit. It turns out that the squirrel is a regular, who, every morning makes my dad smile.”
Wendover based Giovanni is also one such individual. He had worked as an executive chef all his life but when the pandemic hit and his restaurant closed he looked at new career opportunities. He started working for a care company as a visiting carer but found that he was driving between several appointments a day and not spending a great deal of time with individual clients. He came across Ashridge Home Care and joined the 100 strong team as a live-in carer for a client with dementia. The pair hit it off immediately and settled into an amicable routine. All training was provided by Ashridge and the care managers are available 24 hour a day to answer any questions Giovanni has relating to the care of his client. It was this supportive environment which has enabled Giovanni to make the switch from one career to another.
Visiting carer Annabel visits a lady in Wendover daily and has fitted in a new career in caring alongside running her own yoga business: “I am completely new to the caring industry but was pleased at how supportive everyone at Ashridge was. I learnt new skills and love visiting my lady every day as I know what a difference that daily interaction has for her. It means a great deal to both of us.”
To find out more about working with Ashridge Home Care and retraining as a carer look at www.ashridgehomecare.co.uk
or telephone and have a chat with one of the Care Managers on Telephone 01494 917344