National Apprenticeship Week 2024

National Apprenticeship Week takes place from 5th -11th February 2024. It brings together apprenticeship employers, training providers, assessment organisations, apprentices, parents, schools, colleges and universities to celebrate the value, benefits and progression opportunities that an apprenticeship can bring.

This year marks the 17th annual week-long celebration. The theme for National Apprenticeship Week 2024 is “Skills for Life” and everyone is encouraged to consider how apprenticeships can help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career, and for employers to develop a workforce with future ready skills.

The Eden Futures Apprenticeship Programme is an amazing opportunity for our team members to embark on a career pathway, providing them with the right knowledge, skills, and behaviour to deliver the highest quality care and support to the people we support. As part of our People Strategy, we want our people to grow, learn and develop at Eden Futures.

We are proud to be working with Paragon Skills, a top-rated apprenticeship provider to support your journey to gain the right qualifications at the right level.

Charlotte, Deputy Manager at Eden talks about her apprenticeship journey;

“Prior to starting at Eden, I worked as a Crew Member at McDonalds, but made the decision to make a career change into something that I would feel I could progress within.

I joined Eden Futures as a support worker for Huthwaite in April 2020, having no knowledge, not even a Care Certificate. My Deputy Manager at the time, Emily, supported me to complete my Care Certificate and I then went on to complete my Level 2 Apprenticeship in 2021. After completing my Level 2 qualification, I gained more experience as a Support Worker and started to get an idea of which direction I wanted to progress into. So, in January 2023 I applied for the role of Deputy Manager at Huthwaite and fortunately for me, I got the job!

I love being a Deputy Manager, but I know I want to progress further, so I decided to apply for my Level 3 Apprenticeship with Eden to give me the qualification I needed to perform my role to the best of my ability and to enable me to apply for other positions in the future.

My current apprenticeship is with Paragon skills. To say I only started my apprenticeship in November 2023, Paragon have been so supportive in helping me progress and guiding me through the systems and tools to do so. I have also been assigned a tutor who will be supporting me in my apprenticeship. This will help me progress even further with my future endeavours.

I would recommend an apprenticeship to anyone who would like to progress within their career in health and social care, and my story shows that you don’t need to start with any experience in order to go far!”


Did you know…

Research shows that learning new skills can also improve your mental wellbeing by:

  • Boosting self-confidence and raising self-esteem
  • Helping you to build a sense of purpose
  • Helping you to connect with others