The first group of 18 qualified carers has graduated from Fairway Homecare’s new Wolverhampton training hub.

The training hub, a partnership between training provider Embark Learning Care Academy and Fairway Homecare, a provider of healthcare staff, aims to train more than 500 new carers in 2023. Eleven of the first cohort, who all gained a Level 1 Award in Introduction to Health, Social Care and Children’s and Young People’s Settings have already entered employment or had job offers in the health and social care sector.

Based at football club AFC Wulfrunians, the training centre launched in January and aims to tackle the care sector’s current staffing issues and skills shortages.

Fairway Homecare operations director Alex O’Neill said: “Our training courses take just under four weeks to complete, which means we already have new carers ready to work in the area. Now that these carers have their nationally recognised qualifications, through Embark Learning Care Academy, it’s up to the staff in Fairway Homecare to place them into a work environment that suits them. As we serve a host of different care facilities, such as care homes and domiciliary care, our new carers will be able to choose what setting they’d most prefer to work in.”