“You know that you’re changing lives and doing something good…”

How did you find your way into care work?

Charlotte started her journey at Key Enterprises as cover staff after dropping out of college unsure of her future: “I didn’t have any qualifications. I didn’t like the college side of learning – it just didn’t work for me. But working, I really enjoyed – especially at Key”

By October, she was offered a full-time role, and in January began her Level 2 Adult Social Care Apprenticeship: “I started getting in touch with UCQ. We started to speak about the apprenticeship route, what sort of courses and things there might be, and by January I’d started my level 2 adult social care apprenticeship.”   

What makes the job so rewarding?

Charlotte supports people and helps them build confidence, friendships, and have fun through creative activities, games, and trips: “It’s not like going to work. You’re building bonds and friendships and doing something you love every day”

“You know you’re changing lives and you’re doing something good.”

“You’re helping people, and you can see that”.

What does a typical day look like for you?

We asked Charlotte what a typical day looks like for her working at Key Enterprises:

“I come into Key at half eight, provided there’s no traffic hopefully. I have got about 45 minutes to sort of set up for the day. Answer emails, anything like that.”

“We’ve got a session half 9 till 12:15 with a 15-minute break in the middle of it.”

“We’ll be doing maybe some art activities, maybe games, maybe going out on a trip or going out to play football, anything like that.”

“Then we’ve got our afternoon session, 1:00 until 4:00, which again has a 15-minute break. And that’s just the same when doing any sort of activities.”

“Hopefully now the sun’s out as well we’ll be going out more – go to the parks, play football, stuff like that.”

Hear from Charlotte about her journey…

Why should someone else do an apprenticeship?

We asked Charlotte her opinion on why she would recommend apprenticeships to others. Here’s what she said:

“An apprenticeship isn’t just learning or working – you get to live both worlds at the same time.”

“It’s really good for people like me who didn’t like normal college, and you earn while you learn.”

“I didn’t really know what options I had and heard about Key, and I thought I’ll give it a go but I’m not sure. And now, a year later, I’m the Apprentice and it’s going really well.”

“We gain experience while we’re earning money, and I think that’s really valuable, and you can start your career path quite young.”