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BLOG: National Apprenticeship Week 2025

St Luke’s is so much more than just hands on care. While the care is an intrinsic part of our service, there are so many cogs moving in the background keeping our charity running.
Every member of the St Luke’s team works tirelessly to ensure that our services are the best they can be and for some that means working hard beyond their day job.
This coming week is National Apprenticeship Week (10 – 16 February), a chance to celebrate our apprentices at St Luke’s and shine a light on how they are working to develop and strengthen their own skillsets.

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BLOG: Lewis flies the flag for finance and St Luke’s apprenticeships

National Apprenticeship Week 2024

When accounts assistant Lewis Kendall posed for a photo in his gown and mortarboard outside Exeter Cathedral recently, it wasn’t only his long-awaited college graduation he was celebrating.  

The occasion also marked the official end of his time as a St Luke’s apprentice and acknowledged his role as a fully-fledged, permanent member of our Finance Team. 

This week is National Apprenticeships Week (5-11 February), a chance to shine a light on the positive impact that apprenticeships make to individuals, businesses and the wider economy.

Lewis, from Plympton, is now a proud ambassador for St Luke’s apprenticeships, speaking up about how they allow you to learn on the job as well as support you to study for relevant qualifications.  

It proved to be the perfect option for the 27-year-old who was thrilled to find an alternative route into his chosen field of finance and accountancy.  

He explained: “I didn’t really know what to do after A levels. I got three Bs in Maths, History and Business and went to university at Swansea for a while. I liked the course and the subject, but I didn’t get along with the university style of teaching, so I decided to come home and work for a bit.  

“If someone had told me at the time that there was a really good apprenticeship scheme, rather than going to university, then I would have jumped at that.” 

Lewis struck lucky when he spotted an advertisement in May 2019 for a finance apprentice at St Luke’s. 

“I had a really good interview and was taken on by St Luke’s as part of the finance team, with a day of study leave each week to work towards professional qualifications with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) through Exeter College. 

“I would definitely recommend apprenticeships. I liked the way I could be taught on day release because you are not just studying, you have work responsibilities too. You pick up practical skills in the workplace – stuff that you would not learn in the classroom. I also felt really supported, not like Uni where you can feel like you are on your own. 

“And because St Luke’s were so generous in paying for my course, I felt a good pressure to do well.” 

Lewis did do really well in his Level 2 and 3 AAT studies, despite having to study mostly online because of Covid restrictions, so St Luke’s gave him the opportunity to carry on to Level 4 – the top AAT qualification. 

“This time I had to travel up to Exeter every Wednesday and St Luke’s were kind enough to cover the cost of my fuel, and in January this year I heard that I’d passed Level 4.” 

The icing on the cake was the chance to receive his certificates at a graduation ceremony at Exeter Cathedral last month, watched by his mum and dad and his girlfriend, Eloise. 

“It was a great day celebrating achieving my qualifications. My mum and dad were really proud, especially because I had previously withdrawn from university.” 

Numbers might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but Lewis loves them and he’s proud to be part of a background team that is absolutely essential to the smooth running of the organisation. 

“We are quite an unseen specialist team that makes sure the hospice is financially stable,” he explained. “I think the best thing is knowing that the hard work that we put in helps support the services that all the people at front of house provide – our care teams, our fundraising team, our shops.” 

Before qualifying Lewis’s role was mostly dealing with day to day income and financial queries around donations, working closely with fundraising and supporter care. 

“My team is great. St Luke’s recognised my qualification and experience and had a reshuffle so I could have a place in the finance management side of the organisation.” 

As a fully qualified Accounts Assistant he spends more time now working with Management Accountant Nicola Willcocks. 

“The work I do now is really satisfying in that we are dealing with lots of income and expenditure, putting together all the backroom financial information, helping the management accounts team make decisions about, and analyse, budgets. 

“But I don’t just sit at a desk and play with numbers. I like talking people through the numbers if they need any help with that. Giving them all the information they need enables them to make decisions. I gather the data that helps inform those decisions.” 

Underpinning everything Lewis does at St Luke’s is a sense of pride in the organisation. 

“St Luke’s provides such a unique and great service. I live in Plympton, and it feels good to see our cars going out to see patients, knowing that our team helps to make that happen. It’s wonderful that people in the community look so fondly on St Luke’s and get so excited about fundraising for us.”  

When he can, Lewis likes to help out at some of St Luke’s flagship fundraising events.  

“Volunteering at Midnight Walk is probably one of my favourite things to do. It’s great to see so many people who are working a full day and then are prepared to walk miles around Plymouth until two in the morning to raise money for St Luke’s. I do the donations side, making sure the money collected gets safely back to Turnchapel. And I am there afterwards giving out tea, coffee, prosecco and chocolates. 

“It’s great being sat at a computer with the numbers but actually seeing people out like that is wonderful. It fills you with pride.” 

Outside work, Lewis lives at Chaddlewood with Eloise, and in his spare time he’s a keen golfer and one of the current captains of Thurlestone Golf Club. 

“I absolutely love it. St Luke’s was the club’s charity of the year last year, which was wonderful – they raised a lot of money for the organisation.” 

As a hospice, St Luke’s can offer a number of different apprenticeships like Lewis’ to both internal and external candidates. Apprenticeships can range from administration to events management, retail logistics to health and social care, roles in finance to leadership and management. We pride ourselves on ensuring that all our apprentices are part of the St Luke’s family benefiting from our values and support.

If like Lewis, you would be interested in an apprenticeship at St Luke’s you can find out more here.

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BLOG: National Apprenticeship Week 2023: Meet Selina

 

This week (6-12 February) is National Apprenticeship Week. It is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of apprentices and the positive impact they make to communities, businesses, and the wider economy.

As an employer of choice, St Luke’s invests in developing people. We offer apprenticeships across the organisation to give individuals the opportunity to step into a career progressing role and develop their passion.

We wanted to share some stories from our current apprentices and celebrate them and their roles within St Luke’s.

Selina Rogers is one of our Trainee Nursing Associates, working with our St Luke’s Urgent Care team, delivering end of life care in the community, supporting our patients to die within their own homes.

Having worked her way up through different health care settings to become a Senior Health Care Assistant, she decided to develop her career further and when the position within our urgent care service came along, she jumped at the opportunity to do the apprenticeship with St Luke’s and progress within a team she feels passionate about.

“My background since leaving school many years ago has always been within health care,” she says. “I have always wanted to be a registered nurse but had my son at a young age, so I put my effort into raising my son and put my career on hold.

“The apprenticeship has given me the chance to progress without becoming in debt. In gaining a Foundation Degree at Plymouth University, I have had the chance to experience lots of different working environments within the health care service I would not get the chance to do otherwise, such as a GP practice, a private hospital and community nursing to name a few, so they helped hugely in gaining knowledge in my progression to become a Registered Nursing Associate.

“I take great pride in working for St Luke’s and the amazing work the hospice does as a whole for our local community, giving our patients the best possible care and end of life experience for the patient and their family is so important and so special.

“It’s an absolute privilege to be able to do that for a person.”

As part of our Urgent Care team, Selina and her colleagues work alongside our teams in the community, at Derriford hospital and our specialist unit at Turnchapel to ensure a seamless provision of specialist care to people when they have days or weeks left to live.

“The end of life team is extremely special, so many people want to die in their own home, surrounded by their loved ones in their own environment. It is such an amazing thing to be able to do, the team of HCAs and RNs along with the community nurse specialists all work together in ensuring our patients have the best possible experience, bringing some love and laughter along with compassion and empathy. It’s just the best job. I have such great job satisfaction and never wake up not wanting to attend work, who gets to say that, not many! I feel very lucky to have found this opportunity within St Luke’s.”

Selina credits the apprenticeship with giving her a career stepping-stone and helping her to achieve her dream of becoming a registered nurse.

“For people thinking about doing the apprenticeship, do it. It is not easy, it is hard work and I have had times where I thought I cannot do this but your university cohort, employer and colleagues, along with family and friends give you that support.

“It gives such fantastic opportunities and a stepping-stone to becoming a registered nurse which I myself hope to do in the near future and hope to remain with the amazing St Luke’s team when I do so.”

To find out more about our apprenticeships click here or contact our People Services team.

Read Rachel’s and Lewis’ stories.

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BLOG: National Apprenticeship Week 2023: Meet Lewis

This week (6-12 February) is National Apprenticeship Week. It is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of apprentices and the positive impact they make to communities, businesses, and the wider economy.

As an employer of choice, St Luke’s invests in developing people. We offer apprenticeships across the organisation to give individuals the opportunity to step into a career progressing role and develop their passion.

We wanted to share some stories from our current apprentices and celebrate them and their roles within St Luke’s.

Lewis Kendall, 26, is our Accounts apprentice and joined the organisation in May 2019. An avid golfer for Thurlestone Golf Club, Lewis originally studied Accounting and Finance at University in Swansea, leaving for personal reasons in his second year. However, he soon came across the opportunity to study Accountancy through an Exeter College Apprenticeship with St Luke’s and applied straight away. At the end of last year, he successfully passed his apprenticeship course and last month he also passed the final exam of his Association of Accounting Technicians Diploma.

Lewis reflects back on his first interview with St Luke’s, “I jumped at the opportunity when I saw the apprenticeship as I really enjoyed my time and course at University. My interview with St Luke’s went really well, they gave me a great overall picture of the charity as well as a brief tour of the departments and a chance to meet the team I’d be working with. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to be a part of this great charity and the wonderful service it provides.”

Lewis works within our finance department, the team that are vital when it comes to processing the generous donations we receive.

“When I started I was doing more financial admin tasks, like processing online donations on the fundraising database,” he explains. “As my apprenticeship has gone on my role in the team has evolved to better suit this development. An example of this would be one of my roles now is consolidating data and producing performance reports that are used in the monthly management accounts that are sent to department heads.

“Working for St Luke’s definitely gives me a sense of satisfaction that I don’t think you get if you don’t work for a charity. I feel like the work I do helps to monitor, evaluate and improve the financial position of St Luke’s, therefore contributing to the continuation of the Charity. In terms of the bigger picture I guess the work the Finance Team and I do helps maximise the care we can afford to give to our patients and the support to their families.”

Lewis describes how the apprenticeship has given him the opportunity to learn ‘on the job’, embedding what he learns during his course into his daily practice.

“It’s given me the opportunity to ask questions and apply knowledge learnt from my study leave in the workplace. It’s also been helpful that in asking these questions, my manager and head of department have been able to see how my progression has been going and present me with new responsibilities that coincide with what I’ve been learning. It’s a relationship that’s worked very well and kept my role in the Accounts team really interesting.”

For many school leavers and graduates, the idea of working for a hospice can sound fairly depressing, but working for St Luke’s has given Lewis an insight into the care and services we provide for so many local families.

“I know St Luke’s is extremely admired and respected in the service it provides, but before I started working here I (honestly) will admit I hadn’t had been aware of St Luke’s and the incredible work it does to support end of life patients. In the time I’ve been here I couldn’t commend St Luke’s more in the way it helps its patients and helps support their families and I feel proud that I’ve played a (small) part in it.

“Working at St Luke’s has provided an interesting perspective on my profession. I was the only student in my class that worked outside of a practice so applying the knowledge was sometimes harder than it might have been for others working in another industry or an accountancy firm.

“Since starting, I’ve helped volunteer at our Men’s Day Out and Midnight Walk events. It’s also made me aware of all the ways people raise donations, their enthusiasm in fundraising for us and the stories behind it.

“You feel incredibly proud working for a charity so fondly thought of by so many people.”

If you’re considering a career change or looking to take the next step in developing your role, get in touch with our People Services team to learn more about our apprenticeships and placements. We are currently looking for an IT Apprentice to work alongside our IT team, click here to find out more and apply.

“With the experience I’ve had with St Luke’s I would absolutely recommend an apprenticeship to others, especially if you’re uncertain about going into further education or pursuing a career after GCSE’s and A Levels,” Lewis adds. “It’s the best mix of practical workplace experience and learning I could have hoped for.

“I’ve always felt supported by both my employer and training provider and encouraged to achieve the best results I can in any exams while my knowledge and opinion have been tested in the work place, preparing me for extra responsibilities or the next stage of my career.”

Look out for more of our apprentice’s stories this week…

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BLOG: National Apprenticeship Week 2023: Meet Rachel

National Apprenticeship Week 2023: Meet Rachel

This week (6-12 February) is National Apprenticeship Week. It is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of apprentices and the positive impact they make to communities, businesses, and the wider economy.

As an employer of choice, St Luke’s invests in developing people. We offer apprenticeships across the organisation to give individuals the opportunity to step into a career progressing role and develop their passion.

We wanted to share some stories from our current apprentices and celebrate them and their roles within St Luke’s.

Rachel Marriott, 43, has been one of our Health Care Assistants (HCA) working at our specialist unit at Turnchapel for the last few years. A mother of three, she has always had a passion for helping people at the end of their lives. She first became a HCA 17 years ago, before joining St Luke’s in 2019. She is currently finishing her two-year apprenticeship as a Trainee Nursing Associate (TNA) through Plymouth University.

In amongst her daily family life, Rachel spends one day a week at university for lectures and clinical skills, 12 hours a week at our specialist unit as a HCA and then 18 hours working in her trainee nursing role at both Turnchapel and on placements.

“I am supernumerary when working as a Trainee Nursing Associate,” she explains. “I have shadowed the nursing team to learn the roles of the nurses which consists of patient care, admissions and discharges, medications, continuing care, future care planning, working in teams, wound care and learning how to liaise with the multi-disciplinary team within St Luke’s. There are no two days the same, so every shift I work is a learning experience.”

 

With a background working in care homes, Rachel is no stranger to working in palliative care, even completing our Six Steps+ programme in end of life care in 2008, which she describes as igniting her passion for helping those living with a terminal illness. Working alongside our nurses on a daily basis gave Rachel a glimpse of what their roles are like and she knew it was something she wanted to be involved in.

“I have always enjoyed learning and used to watch the nurses eagerly when working alongside them as a HCA and felt that I wanted to further my knowledge and this apprenticeship seemed to fit perfectly for this. It would give me greater responsibility and keep my mind busy. My children are all grown up and it seemed the perfect time for me to better myself.”

Like with any further education course, Rachel has had to put in a great number of hours and hard work and has been truly dedicated to her learning, alongside her family life and role as HCA and at times has felt the pressure and encountered challenges, especially when moving between roles.

“I did not anticipate how hard the course was going to be,” she says. “12 modules divided between two years was a lot to do as well as working full time. It was hard to find the right balance. It has been a challenge changing my role when working as a TNA then working as a HCA. I want to constantly learn and work alongside the nurses, when working as a HCA you have to step back and not be as involved which I have found frustrating at times. I am very grateful to be at the end of this course and looking forward to starting my new role as a registered professional. I am lucky that within St Luke’s the TNA role is recognised and understood whereas some of my fellow cohort colleagues have struggled to help others understand their role.”

 

While challenging at times, Rachel’s passion for learning and being able to make a difference to patients when they really need it, has given her an incredible amount of satisfaction, both in a professional and personal capacity.

“I love working in a hospice. Being able to make a patient feel good about themselves, make them smile or give them the extra time and care they need. A good day for me is being able to understand the needs of the patients and working out what can be done to make that patient person centred and individual to their needs. This could be from helping them dress, assisting them to have a soak in the bath, washing their hair or just sitting and chatting to them.

“I want patients to feel comfortable and happy when in my care. I never underestimate how a patient feels, I just try to make them feel that bit more special and contented in any way that I can.

“I do get a lot of job satisfaction in my role. Friends and family ask how I do my job but I always turn around and say that I love my job. The hospice is not a depressing or morbid place to work, there is generally laughter heard and the nursing and HCA team all go above and beyond to leave any problems at the door and give their very best to the patients.

“The team is like a family, I have never seen such a closeness in any of my previous jobs. If you need help you ask and someone will always go the extra mile to help each other out.”

To find out more about our apprenticeships click here or contact our People Services department.

Look out for Lewis’ and Selina’s stories coming soon…

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Rachel’s reaching for her dream career

Taking up a post at St Luke’s is always going to be more than ‘just’ starting a new job.

What our charity does for patients and their families, uplifting them at a very challenging time, means that whether you have direct contact with them or are in a more behind-the-scenes role, there’s the reward of knowing you’re part of a very special team making a vital difference in your community. But it goes beyond that, too, because we invest in our staff and, as part of a package that also includes a generous annual leave allowance, pension and healthcare scheme, we offer them development opportunities as well

When Rachel Vosper was working as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) at Turnchapel, where we look after our most vulnerable patients, she enjoyed learning all about the practical needs of people in our care, all the while nurturing her long-held dream of becoming a nurse. Now – thanks to an exciting opportunity for her to take a big step towards that goal by training as our first Nursing Associate – she’s feeling more fulfilled than ever.

Rachel said: “Working as an HCA was fantastic, but the longing to be a nurse never left me. It felt quite disheartening at times, really wanting to learn more about the clinical care patients need but feeling held back because I couldn’t afford to study for the degree you need to enter nursing. So I was over the moon when I found out about the opportunity to train as a Nursing Associate at St Luke’s. I’d never even heard the job title before and couldn’t wait to know more!”

The University of Plymouth’s Pre-registration Nursing Associate programme is an apprenticeship open to both new and existing healthcare staff, enabling them to study for a fully funded foundation degree and obtain a professional qualification and registration with the Nursing & Midwifery Council. Once qualified, Nursing Associates can work across a wide range of healthcare settings and clinical areas, including acute or community hospitals, community nursing teams, GP practices and hospices.

Rachel said: “As a mum of two, being able to earn while I learn is key for me. Training as a Nursing Associate at St Luke’s means I can work towards my qualification while being paid a salary, and the structure of working four days a week and studying at the Uni on the other day means I still get to enjoy time with my family on my days off. It’s working out really well – I always want to learn more and keep challenging myself, and being at St Luke’s I know I’m learning from the best.

“What helps, too, is the great support I get from colleagues, from our doctors, nurses and HCAs to the Education and Social Care teams. It isn’t just about the clinical skills I’m gaining – like taking blood, catheterisation of patients and giving them their medication – it’s learning more about how to have those sensitive conversations with families and giving the emotional support patients and their loved ones need.”

As part of their training, Rachel and her fellow University students spend time reflecting on their practice so that they continue to improve. She said: “It gives me the chance to really absorb new experiences and help me do my best – I want to feel I’m doing everything I possibly can to make sure patients receive excellent care.”

While the pandemic means that Rachel’s study has had to take place online in recent months, and that certain placements have been cancelled, she has benefited from spending time with district nurses, learning about their role, as well as from a placement at a local GP surgery.

She said: “All this means I’m getting a well-rounded experience that’s giving me greater understanding of other healthcare roles and how they work together.

“I’m excited about the future, especially working more closely with our doctors and nurses and having my own patients to look after. I hope I can help those who may take up the opportunity to train in the future. I’d really like to support them in achieving their goals, too.”

With an eye on the horizon, Rachel knows that qualifying as a Nursing Associate means she can, when she’s ready, get a faster track to achieving her ambition of becoming a nurse by entering direct to the second year of degree study at the University.

Nicola Pereira, Head of Inpatient Nursing Services at St Luke’s, said: “As an HCA, Rachel was already an asset to St Luke’s and now she’s a trailblazer as she works towards becoming our first qualified Nursing Associate. It is always rewarding seeing members of the team develop and fulfil their potential, so it’s brilliant seeing her go from strength to strength.”

For more on working with St Luke’s – and details of our current vacancies – click here.

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