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Career pathway in older people's care opens for disadvantaged young people

The Prince's Trust sponsors the Elizabeth Care pre-apprenticeship programme to create opportunities for young people who are not in education, employment or training

The Prince’s Trust has created a scheme to help disadvantaged people between the ages of 16 and 25 eventually progress from pre-apprentice training through to specialist nursing positions caring for older people.

The charity is sponsoring the Elizabeth Care training programme, which initially involves three-week pre-apprentice courses from a centre in Poplar, east London. Part of the programme will involve work placements in nursing homes. It is aimed at young people not in education, employment or training.

The Prince’s Trust hopes that passing the course will encourage participants to move on to Elizabeth Care apprenticeships and ultimately to become specialist nurses caring for older people. The Elizabeth Care project will create a career pathway from apprentice to care practitioner and then to registered nurse.

Justine Cawley, managing director of Elizabeth Care, said: ‘The challenges ahead for providing compassionate care to an ageing population are huge. This partnership with the Prince’s Trust is an important first step in meeting the need for an army of skilled and passionate carers for older people.’

Read more about the courses here