Rob Brady is the Director of People and Development at Voyage Care. He shares some of the things that make him proud of our Apprenticeship programme: 

I am so proud of our Apprenticeship programme at Voyage Care. 

Over 500 staff per year enter the programme, most of which are existing staff who want to learn new skills and gain a nationally recognised qualification. 

1. Our Learners  

I recall many years ago attending an awards ceremony where a manager had arranged for their learners to attend and receive their certificates. It was at this point that I realised how proud the staff were to achieve their qualifications. The sense of achievement was overwhelming. There were tears of joy and massive smiles on the faces of the staff that left a lasting memory etched in my mind and ultimately made everything worthwhile.

Upon joining Voyage two years ago I took the opportunity to go to a few services and visit some of our staff who were undertaking qualifications. Again I witnessed such a sense of pride, tears of joy and an unenviable attitude to achieve something special in their lives. Most of all the etched smiles were there again.

2. The Assessors and Support team 

I have such admiration for the Assessors and Support Team who deliver the qualifications on a daily basis. This is such a hard working team and they all share a common purpose: to ensure that the staff member learns something new and completes their qualification with quality stamped through the veins of every interaction that they undertake.

I constantly witness this team going the extra mile, from attending services late at night to catch staff on shift to working weekends to ensure that their learners work is up-to-date. 

Furthermore, our Management and Admin staff have to endure and navigate through the complicated guidance and red tape that is unavoidable as we are dealing with government funding that has to be managed accurately. 

Our team always amaze me as they tend to cut through this level of buearocracy with ease and always deliver their outputs on time.

3. The quality 

Finally, the quality that exists within the programme and the drive for continuous improvement. Within six weeks of joining Voyage Care we were notified of an Ofsted inspection. Having seen what bad looked like in previous companies, I instinctively had a feeling that things would be fine. 

However, my experience of Ofsted told me not to be complacent as I had seen provision quickly go from good to bad on the day of an inspection. 

Following the inspection, we were informed that Ofsted had rated the provision as good with some elements of outstanding.  I can honestly say that my pride levels and sense of achievement reached new heights on this day. 

Our journey to outstanding had begun! Both I and the team are constantly striving for “outstanding” and we know that we will get there. 

Happy Apprenticeship week and congratulations to all our Voyage learners!