Beach Lawns wins prestigious training award

Thursday 24th June 2010

Staff and residents at a Sanctuary Care home in Weston-super-Mare are celebrating after it scooped a prestigious award in recognition of its commitment to an apprenticeship training programme.

Members of the team at Beach Lawns Care Home were invited to the very first Weston College Excellence in Business Training Awards ceremony on Tuesday, where the home won the Commitment to Providing Apprenticeship Placements award.

The home has been working in close partnership with the Business Enterprise Centre, which is part of Weston College, supporting young Health and Social Care apprentices to get vital training in the workplace. To date the team at the home, in Beach Road, have welcomed two apprentices on board and are delighted to be taking another under their wing next month.

One of the apprentices is 18-year-old Sophie Crisp, has been working there for two months.

Sophie said: “I’m very please they have won because it’s a nice place to work. I’ve enjoyed being with the residents and working with them and seeing how a home is run.

The staff are very supportive and are very good to learn from. Working here has helped me to get where I wanted to be – I wanted to work with people and help people and the home gave me a chance to do that.”

Leesa Daniel, Deputy Manager at Beach Lawns said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won this award. It is recognition of the hard work and dedication of the whole team to teach bright young local people to provide the highest standards of care.

“We feel enormously proud and will continue to develop the excellent relationship we have with Weston College. We look forward to welcoming more apprentices from the college in the future, which will help us to develop the team we have here and continue to deliver highest standards of care to our residents.”

Anne Pate, Learning Coordinator (for care) at the Business Enterprise Centre said: “The close working relationship between Beach Lawns and the Business Enterprise Centre provides an excellent opportunity for young apprentices. It helps to ensure that the apprentices develop the skills that they need in order to maximise their effectiveness in the workplace whilst obtaining a qualification.”

In addition to this, Beach Lawns will soon be opening its doors to schoolchildren considering their future career choices as part of apprenticeship taster days.

The awards, which were held at Weston-super-Mare’s Winter Gardens, are an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the successes of local employers and employees over the last year.

Beach Lawns is beautiful beachfront home which provides residential, nursing and respite care to older people. It has recently benefited from extensive refurbishment, including the bedrooms, communal areas, bathrooms and the gardens.

The apprenticeships are one of a number of successful schemes launched across Sanctuary Group, of which Sanctuary Care is a subsidiary. Programmes are up and running covering several business areas, including business administration, finance and IT.

Recruitment is also taking place for two new exciting apprenticeship schemes in Maintenance Operations and Horticulture, offering opportunities at a number of locations across the UK.

Cementing its growing status as a leading provider of apprentice opportunities, Sanctuary is also registered with the National Apprenticeship Service, the hub for apprentice development in England.

Posted by Kim for Sanctuary Care Ltd.