£250,000 grant for CU Scarborough will help support health and social care students

CU Scarborough, part of the Coventry University Group, received the funds from the Office for Students (OfS) as part of the OfS Challenge competition to support local graduates.

The project aims to radically increase the number of local graduates going into the health and social care sector on the North Yorkshire Coast.

This will be achieved through building an innovative pathway from before application to university, through to successful graduate level employment with key partners including the NHS, NYCC, the CCG and the independent care sector.

The grant funding will be used to employ four new staff at CU Scarborough including a dedicated Health and Social Care Outreach Officer who will work both with local colleges and hard to reach groups to encourage prospective HE students to consider health related courses and careers.

Kay Fraser, associate pro-vice chancellor at CU Scarborough, said: “This project will allow us to make a real difference to both the lives of students and graduates in and around Scarborough and the communities they will serve once employed in health and social care professions.

“The success of this bid is undoubtedly due to the excellent partnerships we have both with local employers and educators.”

The project will be delivered over the next three years by a consortium of organisations led by CU Scarborough.

These include: York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, North Yorkshire County Council, NHS and Scarborough and Ryedale CCG, Independent Care Group (York and North Yorkshire), Scarborough VI Form College, Scarborough Tec (Including North Yorkshire Care Academy), Saint Cecilia’s Care Service and Coventry University Students’ Union.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, said the grants were given out to help universities get their graduates into high-quality local employment.

She said: “There is an outdated assumption that the typical student experience involves moving far away from home to study and work. This is not true for a large number of students and graduates, and we know that, whether by choice or circumstance, many stay in their home towns.

“Graduates should not have to move to London to get good jobs. It is essential that those who stay in their home towns and cities can enter high-skilled work and are not locked out of the graduate labour market.”