Working with Dundee & Angus College Modern Apprenticeship and Workforce Development funding programmes, 22 staff members from various roles within Kingdom Support & Care have embarked on a career development syllabus that will allow them to enhance their opportunities in the highly competitive care sector.

The Stepping Up initiative gives participants the opportunity to gain practical experience with more responsibility and attain a higher level qualification enabling them to progress within the organisation when opportunities arise.

Formed in 2017, Kingdom Support & Care has 275 members of staff supporting over 300 people throughout Fife and Falkirk, providing high quality and personalised support and care designed to meet individual needs and desired outcomes.

Norah Smith

Norah Smith, Kingdom Support & Care’s executive director, said: “We have a strong commitment to investing in and developing our staff, who are our greatest resource, and are very pleased that staff engage so positively in the opportunities we create. As a result, we not only improve staff skills, motivation and career opportunities, but also enhance the reputation of Kingdom Support & Care and importantly improve the quality of services we provide which in turn supports people to have great lives.”

Norah added: “One of our strategic objectives within the Kingdom Group is to be an employer of choice. Our progressive recruitment, retention and development strategy allows us to attract and retain the best people and helps us build our workforce for the future.”

Lucinda Mason, sector development lead for the care sector at Dundee & Angus College, said: “We have always worked closely with employers however in the last year we have intentionally intensified this activity to ensure that our local business community and in particular our care sector had access to vital training and talent that was required to ensure they can continue to deliver at a time they were needed most.

“It has been a pleasure to work in partnership with Kingdom Support and Care and tailor our offering to their particular needs. To meet demand we very quickly increased our Modern Apprenticeship offer and also adapted our eligibility criteria to allow us to not just train 16 to 19 year olds but expand that offering to the wider age group of practitioners already in the sector and upskill them to enable career progression.

“The individuals who have undertaken these awards have been a pleasure to work with, engaged, motivated and driven to succeed in their Modern Apprenticeship qualifications and we wish them the very best of luck with their career progression within Kingdom Support and Care.”