Alcedo employees in Southport help raise more than £4k for Wigan and Leigh Hospice with skydive

A fearless team of 7 employees from Alcedo Care Group, including 3 from Southport, faced their fears to take part in a charity skydive raising more than £4,000 for Wigan and Leigh Hospice.

Providing valuable physical care and emotional support to those living with terminal or life-limited illnesses, Wigan and Leigh Hospice relies heavily on donations and fundraising to continue its vital work with more than 1,200 people in the local community every year. With its head office in Southport and a busy branch on Hoghton Street, Alcedo Care Group wanted to do something to help.

Employees from across the business including home carers, care coordinators and branch managers came together with colleagues from head office to perform the skydive at the Black Knights Skydiving Centre in Lancaster.

Facing their fears, the Alcedo team set up a Just Giving page and launched a healthy internal competition amongst themselves to raise as much as they possibly could through sponsorship from family and friends before donning their safety gear and jumping from 15,000 feet to complete their challenge.

The result of their efforts is more than £4,000 which will go towards the daily running costs of the charity and the amazing work it delivers from its Hospice on Kildare Street in Hindley, Wigan.

Care coordinator Mike Markey said:- "I've always wanted to do a skydive so when the opportunity came up to complete the challenge and raise funds for an amazing charity that we work close with in Wigan I was happy to put myself forward and get involved. The whole day went so quickly, it was an exhilarating experience and 1 that I'll never forget. I'm so pleased we raised such a good amount for Wigan and Leigh Hospice, it is such a worthy cause and 1 that I was pleased to be able to support."

Managing director at Alcedo Care Group, Andy Boardman, added:- "We're all so proud of them for taking on the challenge and raising such a large amount for Wigan and Leigh Hospice. Working in homes and with families across the North West, we see 1st hand the vital work that charities undertake and are pleased to support them wherever we can."

Recently rated 1 of the Top 20 large home care groups for all ages for the fourth year running, Alcedo Care Group now has 18 offices in the North of England and Wales:- Blackburn and Darwen, Blackpool & Fylde, Bury, Chester, Crewe, Holywell, Lancaster and Wyre, Liverpool (Kirkdale), Liverpool (Speke), Preston, Southport, South Lakes, St Helens, Trafford, Ulverston & Barrow, St Asaph, Wigan and Wirral.

The family owned and operated Group is on track to meet its target of owning and operating 30 branches across the North of England and Wales by the end of 2025. Alongside its geographical expansion plans, the innovative Group is also on track with its mission to continually expand its portfolio of quality home care services, with a particular emphasis on developing its Complex Care and Live-in Care provision. For more information, please visit:- AlcedoCare.Co.UK.

Mayor Steve Rotheram extends pilot scheme to train further education tutors across Liverpool City Region after successful 1st year

A pioneering scheme to train further education (FE) tutors across the Liverpool City Region is to be extended after 34 students successfully completed the 1st year.

The £290,000 Pathways to Teaching initiative was launched in 2022 as part of Mayor Steve Rotheram's devolved Adult Education Budget (AEB) to help fill local skills gaps.

The innovative programme was designed alongside local authorities to attract residents of the City Region to a career in teaching in response to a local shortage of FE tutors.

The 6-month course serves as a stepping stone into the adult learning sector; providing the skills to become a tutor and enabling funded progression to advanced teacher training courses.

After a successful 1st year which saw 34 people complete the course; with many already working in teaching jobs and studying for advanced qualifications; the programme is being rolled out for a 2nd year.

Councillor Ian Maher, Liverpool City Region Portfolio Holder for Employment, Education and Skills. said:- "Because we have control over how adult education funding is spent locally, we're able to pilot new and innovative ways of supporting people. This pilot is a perfect example of that, giving local residents the opportunity to consider a career in the FE sector and develop their teaching skills."

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The Adult Education Budget was devolved to the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority over 4 years ago and is currently around £53million annually. It has enabled innovative new ways of teaching and learning.

Pathways to Teaching was developed to address a shortage of tutors to deliver English, maths, English for speakers of other languages and digital courses.

The programme includes preparatory qualifications from at level 3 (equivalent to A-level) with the opportunity to progress to level 5 (HND/2nd year of degree), including Certificate in Post 16 Education (Cert Ed) and the Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA).

It has proved to be cost effective and will now be extended for a second year within the original £290,000 budget. Enrolment is now open for year 2.

At an awards ceremony in November 2023 at the Mansion House in Calderstones Park, the 1st 34 successful learners were presented with certificates.

Kelly Arrowsmith, Quality and Learner Experience Manager, at Halton Borough Council, which managed and co-ordinated the project across the LCR, said:- "Pathways to Teaching was designed to address the gap that we're currently experiencing in the adult learning sector. It has been really hard to recruit adult learning tutors over the last couple of years, so the Combined Authority identified that there was something that we could do to promote the teaching career to our residents, and to provide them with an achievable, accessible way to embark on their teaching journey. The AEB funding allows us to develop an innovative and responsive curriculum and this year Pathways to Teaching has been really successful. We've had 34 complete across the LCR local authorities demonstrating real collaboration which is fantastic. We're really excited it has been extended for another year and we're just starting to enrol again. I think it's a testament to the dedication that the Combined Authority has to continue to invest in its own residents and to promote their career aspirations."

Sharon Hunter from Knowsley, said:- "The course was amazing; I've got employment through Knowsley Family aAnd Community Education (FACE), who facilitated the course, and I'm now actually a tutor teaching floristry."

Jason Bowen, from Wirral, said:- "I started the pathway to teaching course in September and through that I applied for a job at Coleg Cambria and got a job as a lecturer in Industry Electrical. They are going to put me through even more qualifications now so I'm going to be doing my assessor's course this year and start CertEd next year, so onwards and upwards in the education; I'm loving it."

Mollie Harrison, from Knowsley, said:- "In a matter of a month I passed and went onto St Helens College where I now teach Animal Management 2 days a week and then do my PGCE the rest of the time. It has been very rewarding; I do love it so much and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that wants to do teaching as is definitely a brilliant stepping stone."