Business management software provider, The Access Group, worked closely with the Impact Futures team to arrange a £400,000 donation from their levy account to national home care provider, Home Instead. Both companies are valued partners of Impact Futures. The funds will be used to offer apprenticeships to Home Instead staff at various levels, enabling its teams to advance in their care careers.

The Access Group provided the funding to Home Instead using the government’s levy transfer funding scheme. The initiative allows businesses to transfer up to 25% of their legally mandated apprentice levy funds to another smaller business or charity.

With 10,000 care professionals caring for 16,000 clients, Home Instead will be using the £400,000 influx to give staff free, on-the-job training – with Impact Futures supporting the delivery of the learning. The curriculum ranges from Level 2 foundational skills for workers who provide frontline care, to bespoke Level 5 leadership to help staff manage teams, financial services, and organisational changes.

“These apprenticeships are opening up career opportunities by creating several different pathways of learning for 80 individuals across a range of levels,” says Home Instead’s Learning and Development Partner, Trish John. “Access Group’s support has enabled us to significantly enhance our apprenticeship offering, which has also supported professional development of our teams and helped us to demonstrate a shared commitment to investing in the growth and expertise of our network.”

“Given the enduring skills shortage and growing number of vacancies in the sector, it is critical to retain and support staff across all levels of care, and grow the talent pipeline,” says Managing Director of Access Group’s Health, Support and Care (HSC) division, Steve Sawyer. “We’re delighted to be able to play a small part in helping tackle this issue and build on a decade-long working partnership with Home Instead.”

The scheme is being managed by Home Instead’s Apprenticeship Academy, which was launched in March 2023.

About Access Group and Home Instead:

The Access Group is one of the largest UK-headquartered providers of business management software to small and mid-sized organisations in the UK, Ireland and Asia Pacific. It helps more than 75,000 customers across commercial and non-profit sectors, including 10,000 registered care providers and various c50 NHS trusts, become more productive, efficient, and able to provide personalised care. 

Home Instead UK is a national home care company which specialises in providing care and companionship in the home for older people. It also delivers specialist dementia care, Parkinson’s care, counselling, end-of-life, live-in care and respite care. With 255 offices caring for over 16,000 clients, Home Instead provides around 6 million hours of relationship-led home care each year.