National Careers Week 2015 - The Digital Guide | Page 26

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FRIDAY APPRENTICESHIPS

BILL THOMPSON AGED 16
HAND-IN-HAND
Bill is the second generation of care
professionals in his family. He has
grown up surrounded by family
members who have worked in social
care for as long as he can
remember. Bill’s step-brother has autism, so personal experience of
supporting his care needs had given
him a real insight into care work.
When he turned 16, he felt ready to
approach the Hand-in-Hand
organisation to discuss and progress
an Apprenticeship opportunity. He
hasn’t looked back.
During his first year at Hand-in-Hand,
Bill successfully completed his NVQ
Level 2 in Health and Social Care,
which he was overwhelmed with. He
hadn’t, until then, felt very confident
with anything academic. He believes
that the practical aspects of the
Apprenticeship have really helped to
put the theory into perspective. He is
already planning to start his Level 3
part of the Apprenticeship in the near
future.

Hertfordshire-based Hand in Hand is
a small, round-the-clock
residential care organisation that
supports young adults with learning
disabilities through either one-to-one
or shared care services. Bill is part of
a team of 25 care professionals that
work shifts to care for four male and
two female service users with autism
and challenging behaviour.
Bill’s role is to support service users
with their everyday needs. It took a
few months to learn the ropes, but on
reflection Bill believes that this period
is required to build trusting, working
relationships with service users.
Speaking about daily challenges in his
role, Bill explains that he can
overcome and manage these through
his newfound confidence and his
greater appreciation of servic