News Release                                                                                             5 February 2010

Adult social care apprentices meet Health Secretary

Adult social care apprentices from all over England met Health Secretary Andy Burnham to celebrate the sector's contribution to National Apprenticeship Week.

Andy Burnham was joined by Social Care Minister Phil Hope at a reception for some of the best social care apprentices and their employers who have been working closely with Skills for Care to encourage more people to take the apprenticeship route into the sector.

Apprentices from Voyage, Oxfordshire County Council, Hendra House, Barchester and Gateshead Council took the opportunity to tell Ministers how becoming an apprentice has changed not only their lives but improved the lives of the of the people they work with.

Some apprentices had joined social care schemes to escape unemployment with others joining straight from school but one apprentice described it as going from 'unemployed to well respected.'

Skills for Care's national apprenticeship team have worked with hundreds of employers and last year achieved an impressive 65% increase in the number of certification of completion of framework across the sector.

"Skills for Care has put significant investment into creating apprenticeships in adult social care because we believe the potential for apprentices is virtually limitless so I'm delighted our very impressive apprentices got the chance to tell Andy Burnham and Phil Hope their stories," says Skills for Care CEO Andrea Rowe.

"Apprenticeships are a key part of our strategy to meet the looming recruitment crisis in our sector and aside from the inspirational stories of how becoming an apprentice does change lives we know employing apprentices also has a very clear benefit for employers and people who use services."