Kingsmill funds four new care workers for Burnley

The new carers will not only greatly alleviate the pressure on existing team members who cover 24/7 rotas, but also allow for the much deserved promotion of other team members. The funding of the new care workers is part of Kingsmill’s Slice of Kindness Pledge.

The training for the new care home staff members will be funded by an initiative between Health Education England, the National Skills Academy for Food & Drink and British food and drink companies - in this instance Kingsmill’s parent company Allied Bakeries.

The scheme sees the companies’ own unused apprenticeship levy funds being redirected to pay to train new NHS health and social care workers.

The four new team members at Acorn Heights will follow the Lead Adult Care Worker Level 3 course. The NVQ qualification will give the individuals a vital foot in the door of the caring profession, along with the essential skills needed to appropriately support Acorn Heights’ residents. The care home’s residents are aged 36-85 and have very specific wellbeing needs ranging from addiction recovery to dementia.

The new trainees are Donna Pye, Maddison Gipson, Toyah Sturdy and Nicole O’Neill.

Having new staff members will allow for even better care for the Acorns Heights residents who will benefit from increased one to one time that can be used for anything from a local walk or shopping trip, to help organising administrative tasks or personal belongings. The increased staff support will also allow larger groups to head out for more activities that include bowling, cinema trips and recently, an outing to a local farm to make milkshakes.

Care Home Manager Natalie Heaven said: “At Acorn Heights we’re really grateful to be benefiting from the Kingsmill support. We’re like one big family and we don’t use agency staff as continuity of care is so important to us.

"Without agency support however, we can find ourselves really stretched as we’re covering 24/7 rotas between us all. Having four new team members will take some of that pressure off, and allow for even more care and attention for each of the 22 residents we have here.

“Compared to a lot of care homes, our residents are quite young and they understandably like to get out and about. Having more staff makes trips out much more doable - something we know boosts everyone’s mood and energy levels no end. The funding is about so much more than NVQ qualifications - it really is helping with wellbeing across the board.”

The Kingsmill ‘Slice of Kindness’ Pledge is set to create lasting change in 2021 and beyond via the roll out of multiple new initiatives under the brand’s health, social and environmental manifesto.