Persona
Persona Care & Support Ltd is a health and social care provider based in Bury, we were established in October 2015. Our purpose is We support people to life their best life, which means knowing what's important to them. Everyone's needs are unique, so we tailor our support to what matters to our customers.
We have a range of different support options, which we've designed to be flexible. We call these Days, Stays and Lives. There are a range of options in each of these areas, including Bury Shared Lives service, which we manage.
From advice, guidance and signposting, through to light touch support or even 24/7 services supporting complex needs, this flexibility means the customer can pick and choose, building their own support plan from any or all of these areas; using us as a 'one stop shop', getting continuity and consistency of care from just one place.
We provide specialist opportunities for:
young people with additional needs
people with learning disabilities
people with physical disabilities
older people
people living with dementia
people with autism
Apprenticeship Information
Karen and Ann are Support Coordinators at Hoyles and Sunnybank. They have helped Holly and Kim through their apprenticeship with Persona and we asked them what makes a good candidate
At Persona, we strive to support customers and staff to live their best life, so it comes as no surprise that for a successful apprentice to thrive here, a quality that they must show, as Ann put it, is that they are “keen to learn and dedicated to getting the best outcomes for customers.” This job comes with daily challenges and no two days are the same. Karen sees the key qualities (which are in line with Persona’s REACH values) for a successful apprentice as being:
Passion to deal with challenges we face each day with our customers, if they have passion they will think about how we can all improve ourselves and do a better job for our customers outcomes.
Patience, as very little happens overnight for our customers, it can be by constant repetition doing the same things with them.
Enthusiasm and willingness to learn new things, adapting these things to how we could support customers to do the same tasks but in their own way.
Communication with staff and being able to work confidently as part of the team. They will learn new communications skills through working with our customers and picking up on their non-verbal communication.
Being honest. I think when they feel comfortable with the staff team and managers, they will speak up when something doesn’t seem right.
Molly has been through the Persona Apprenticeship. Find out about their experience here.
So do you need to know what you are going to do for the rest of your life before signing up to be a Persona Apprentice? Karen doesn’t think so.
“No I don’t feel that they do necessarily. Kim finished college as she was fed up with the classroom work but didn’t really want a permanent job in case she didn’t like it. I’m sure if she was asked now she would say she loves her job. As an apprentice they have opportunities to meet and work with a variety of outside agencies that they may feel a pull towards, ie Social Work team, Mental Health team, Speech and Language in the same way that Molly has go on to do her nursing degree. I think they develop a natural pull to something over a period of time although we have had people who are certainly not suited to the job at all, but luckily these case are few and far between.”
So that is what is expected from a potential apprentice, but what can an apprentice expect from their line managers?
“Initially we would give them a buddy to work with for about a month until they find their feet. We help the apprentices organise their time to work towards their care certificate, we also use a progression tracker to keep up to date with where they are up to. We do more 1-2-1‘s over a 6 month period to make sure all is ok with them and their job, as sometimes they have never had a job before or worked with a group of staff. We liaise with training provider tutors once they have been allocated to do their Adult Care Worker Level 2 Apprenticeship Standard and give them time to do coursework and point them in the right direction for info they need.”
Got A Question?
If you would like more information on apprenticeships at Persona or are interested in applying, please fill in the form below:
Contact Details:
Email: workforce@personasupport.org
