More than 60 people have already enrolled for the Luton Care Academy powered by Orangebox Training Solutions.

The aim is to train new care workers and find them employment with Orangebox promising a guaranteed job interview for those who finish each fully funded course. It also includes a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

BCG Care Homes and Orchard Lodge are two of the employers already on board with the six-month programme and Orangebox is happy to work with more.

Rejia Ahmed will be the lead trainer at the courses being held at various locations across Luton and she boasts local knowledge of an industry she is keen to improve.

She said: “After leaving university I could see in nurseries we need quality practitioners. I thought about managing nurseries but realised the need was for quality, so I became a teacher.

“The Health and Social Care sector can be overlooked; carers are. People don’t recognise domiciliary care like they should and in Luton we have a whole range of people, very diverse.

“From an Asian perspective, we were notoriously known for looking after our own relatives but now we have many working professionals so the time is no longer there to dedicate in that way any more.

“Orangebox has identified a need for quality training to be delivered in Luton and I agree that the care sector would massively benefit from the sort of training provided for cohesion.”

Rejia was born and raised in Luton and graduated in early years education studies. She has done a lot of grassroots work with charities such as Luton’s Our Minds Matter and Barnardo’s, while she has had first-hand experience of the need for a carer because her father had a stroke.

“There is room for improvement,” she said. “I have recognised the need through my own personal life, I recognised the need for better carers.

“Luton is more diverse now. Working with this different dynamic of people, I have identified the need within the local community for this need.

“I have been up to the North-East to work with Orangebox in Hartlepool and we have worked alongside care and nursing homes to help improve the quality to cater for the clients’ needs.

“We are now working alongside such places in Luton too. There has only been the basics, with Orangebox we will be answering to people, to have that credibility.

“We are preparing people to work in that sector by leading them on a Health and Social Care Level 2 qualification course. We will give them the qualifications to be successful at interview.”

The Luton Care Academy will help secure full-time work for its learners, with Orangebox boasting a track record of 65 per cent who progress to employment after a guaranteed job interview. 

Orangebox CEO Simon Corbett said: “It’s really exciting to bring these opportunities to Luton. We are working with a couple of employers, wanting to reach out for more.

“We want to help the local community by reducing employment, getting them into sustainable care jobs.

“We went live with adverts and have had 60 applicants already. We want to reach out to other community groups to see if they want to partner up, like centres, or areas where there are groups of unemployed people looking to get into work.”

For further information on this course check out www.orangeboxtraining.com/jobs/care-assistant-luton/ or call the team on 01429 874530 and email jobs@orangeboxtraining.com.

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