The Life Support Project
The Life Support project was set up in August 2003 to, over
5 years, pilot and embed a programme for personal development, training and support that will enable young adults to progress from unemployment or unskilled work to skilled jobs in health care with a particular focus on nursing.
Project Outline
The project targets parents aged 18+, including lone parents. Recent policy developments focus on the need to address poverty by bringing young parents into employment. However, the cost and lack of availability of childcare mean that young mothers, in particular, continue to be effectively excluded from employment and training. There is also a concern that not enough young people are going into nursing. Welsh hospitals are currently forced to recruit internationally, when what they want and need is recruits from within their local communities.
Life Support aims to address these issues by recruiting, from communities served by local NHS Trusts, young adults who would like to go into nursing or another health profession but who would not be able to do so without the project. This may be because they do not have the academic qualifications, the confidence or the support structures. The project provides a year-long pre-foundation course run in the local community, support to join a foundation course in nursing or health and help with confidence development, travel and childcare.
The Partnership
Life Support is a partnership project between the People and Work Unit,
the University of Glamorgan , the Ebbw Vale and District Development Trust and the Bryncynon Strategy. The project is structured around two teams, one in
Rassau and one in Bryncynon with the two community partners providing each
team with a base. The project employs two tutors to deliver the preparatory year
courses and continue to support the learners throughout their progression. The University of Glamorgan's role is to ensure a smooth transition on to campus life and deliver the foundation and degree courses. The People and Work Unit's role is the overall management of the project, supervision and employment of the
tutors and ongoing evaluation.
The life support project - program
