Southwark College has partnered with StreetDoctors and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust to deliver an eight-week education programme, funded by Health Education England, that enables young people to learn, share and teach emergency lifesaving skills.
StepWise is an eight-week programme, designed to teach students emergency lifesaving skills, while also teaching leadership skills, and giving students the necessary experience required for building a career in the health care sector.
The StepWise Programme enables young people to:
- Learn emergency life-saving skills so they can become lifesavers in their communities
- Gain an Emergency First Aid at Work accreditation
- Learn about healthcare volunteering and career paths
- Learn about their legal rights in relation to violent situations and police responses
- Build their emotional and social skills
- Develop facilitation and training skills to be able to co-deliver emergency first-aid training sessions to their peers alongside our healthcare volunteer trainers
Lucie Russell, CEO at StreetDoctors, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Southwark College to deliver our innovative Stepwise programme. The programme, delivered by our inspirational young healthcare volunteers, focuses on empowering young people with lifesaving first-aid skills to reduce street violence, and introduces them to the world of healthcare careers.
“The course is all about aspiration and opportunity, which fits really well with the aims of the college, and supports young people on a journey to think positively and think big about their futures”
Julie Screaton, Chief People Officer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Guy’s & and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust are really proud to be building on our partnership with Southwark College with this programme.
“It enables us to educate local young people about the wealth of both clinical and non-clinical careers available within our organisation. This is, particularly the case where we have skills shortages, for example in IT support, therapeutic radiography or healthcare science. We look forward to engaging with the young people and welcoming them onto our future workforce, whether that is as university students, apprentices or directly into jobs.”
Jane Button, Principal at Southwark College, said: "At Southwark College, we are committed to providing exceptional opportunities for young people to excel in their future careers, offering programmes that give our students real experiences to prepare them for employment. This exciting partnership will provide our Health and Social Care students with essential emergency response skills, as well as opportunities to develop industry knowledge and experience, which will be beneficial to secure employment in the healthcare sector.
"The College is proud to be working with StreetDoctors and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust on the StepWise Programme to support young people in our community to achieve their aspirations and progress in their chosen career paths. We look forward to working with StreetDoctors and Guy's and St Thomas' and seeing our students take part in this inspiring programme."
How to take part
There are 24 spaces available on the programme which are available to Southwark College’s Health and Social Care students. The programme starts on Wednesday 2 November 2022 and will be delivered in two parts:
- Emergency first aid training, healthcare careers workshops, emotional resilience and trauma training.
- Cofacilitation training for eight young people to learn to deliver StreetDoctors sessions to their peers alongside healthcare volunteers.
To be considered for a place on the programme you must be studying Health and Social Care. Students must submit 100 words on why they want to take part and what they would like to gain from the programme by Wednesday 19 October. You can submit your application here.
Studying Health and Social Care at Southwark College can help you develop the essential skills and gain the knowledge needed to work in this rewarding sector. To learn more, visit www.southwark.ac.uk/health-and-social-care
