The Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland (CCPS) recently took part in the first Social Care Careers Week in schools across Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Government and Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The aim of the event was to put together a week of national, school-based events to raise young people’s awareness of the sector and encourage interest in social care careers.

As part of the week, Cornerstone was invited to develop a short online session featuring some of our Lead Practitioners sharing their experiences. This video went out live to schools across the country and proved to be a great opportunity to propose social care as a positive career option —a career where you can really make a difference.

Housing Support Lead Practitioners, Erin and Graeme featured in the session, eager to share their stories with the young people.

Graeme shared what a typical day might look like supporting a gentleman in his service. “We promote the person I support to be independent, we maybe prompt him or remind him of something, but he’ll do his own ironing and make his own meals with a bit of support. Today he has probably gone out for lunch and a game of pool. Then at night he likes to chill, he loves dominoes and would play all night if he could!”

Building a strong, positive relationship with the people we support is vital in the role. Erin shared; “It was about building trust with the ladies I supported and their families who I’m in regular contact with. It was important the families knew me to know they could trust me with their daughters. I have got a second family now because of how well we’ve built that relationship.”

For Graeme and Erin the best part of their jobs is working with the people we support. Graeme shared; “My favourite part is knowing the person I’m supporting is happy. Because if I wasn’t there, he might not be able to be as active as he wants to be. Seeing him happy because he’s had a great day out makes me happy.”

As a person-centred employer, Cornerstone aims to recruit people who align with our organisational values. Erin explained; “At Cornerstone we look at a person’s values over qualifications. If you have the right mindset to work in a caring role, we would love to discuss recruitment opportunities”

Interested in a career in social care? Click here to find out more! We can’t wait to hear from you.

You can read more about what the people we support, our colleagues and teams across Scotland have been up to in our Spring Newsletter.