It's a win double for Swansea Bay at college awards night

Swansea Bay proved to be a double winner at Gower College Swansea’s Annual Student Awards event.

The health board was awarded Employer Partner of the Year, while healthcare support worker Callum Clarke, who is based at Morriston Hospital, was named Apprentice of the Year.

Both awards reflect the close and mutually beneficial ties between Gower College Swansea, one of South Wales’ biggest further education providers, and Swansea Bay University Health Board.

Well-known local celebrity Kev Johns MBE hosted the evening at the Swansea.com Stadium, which showcased the college’s fantastic array of talented students.

Callum had particular cause to celebrate, having overcome a number of obstacles as he pursues his ambitions to become a registered nurse.

He is currently undertaking a Clinical Healthcare Apprenticeship after working as a healthcare support worker with the health board for a number of years.

Gower College Swansea tutor and clinical health assessor, Nikita Jenkins, said: “Callum has previously faced a number of personal challenges within the education system which deterred him from seeking out further education, but he has taken advantage of any and all opportunities within the Apprenticeship qualification to engage in learning and development,

“Callum has not only shown consistent development in terms of academia, but his presence within the clinical area is something I hope all those who visit Morriston Hospital experience - he walks into a bay, and his patients are nothing short of delighted to see him.

“He brings a very positive and warm energy to the clinical area and has demonstrated the kinds of personal and professional skills that all healthcare professionals should aspire to possess.

“I am sure that Callum will continue to achieve here with us at Gower College Swansea, and I am so privileged to be a part of his journey to becoming a registered nurse.”

Meanwhile Paul Kift, who is Gower College Swansea’s Vice Principal for Skills and Partnerships, was quick to highlight the numerous benefits of a strong working relationship with Swansea Bay when nominating the health board for its award.

Relationships of this kind are of particular importance due to the recognition that ‘growing your own’ talented, local workforce is an important factor in employee retention.

With the NHS nationally facing struggles with recruitment and retention of staff, strong support and input from local education providers is highly significant.

“We have a fantastic relationship with Swansea Bay University Health Board, built on a number of things,” said Paul.

“I think we've really developed the relationship over the past six years, and that is because we're both like-minded organisations working hard to deliver benefits to the communities that we serve.

“We've also assigned an individual to work closely with the health board to ensure we can support their staff with careers advice and training support.

“During Covid, things seemed to really solidify the relationship that we answered the health board’s plea to help upskill their staff in preparation for what was to come during the pandemic.

“So that was a range of different things, such as manual handling training that we offer to staff. You might think that health and social care support is the main area of support that we offer the health board, but we also offer training in a range of different areas, both in terms of medical and non-medical roles.

“Swansea Bay University Health Board has always been keen to upskill its existing talent, but also recruit new talent into the organisation. That can be really evidenced with the support it offers in terms of recruiting our independent living skill students, for which it should be highly commended.

“We're also having conversations with our public health team in terms of what we can do regarding collaboration, to offer better careers advice at a much younger age than our students to help reduce the likelihood of entering poverty, and how that links with vocational apprenticeship support.

“We really look forward to seeing what the next couple of years holds for the relationship -  there’s far more that we can do together, and congratulations once again to Swansea Bay University Health Board, our Employer Partner of the Year.”