Ed Balls Joins Line Up of First National Care Careers Conference for School Students

Ed Balls joins a line-up of experts, younger people already working in care and interactive performers at ‘Who Cares?’, the first national care careers conference on Tuesday 7 March at Royal College of GP’s, Euston Square, London. 

The broadcaster, writer and former politician will talk about his experience working in a care home for a BBC documentary to encourage hundreds of young people aged between 14 and 19 years of age to consider a career in care.

The conference and exhibition which has been organised by Hallmark Foundation and Working Options in Education aims to highlight the range of jobs available and the different routes into working in care. Current speakers at the event include; Professor Deborah Sturdy CBE, Chief Nurse for Adult Social Care, Department for Health and Social Care and Liz Kendall MP, Shadow Minister for Care.

Exhibitors meanwhile, will show how care is changing and provide first-hand experiences for students planning their career. Many more schools and colleges will also join the event via livestreaming.

The national event sponsored by Advinia Care, Precious Homes, Sahara Care, Regent Group and Hemraj Goyal Foundation comes at a crucial time, with more than 1.5 million people currently working in care and one in ten posts vacant, it’s predicted that the workforce will need to grow by 500,000 in the next decade.

Ed Balls said: “Caring for older and disabled people is one of the most important jobs in our society – and will become even more so as our population ages. That’s why we need to do more to encourage young people in schools and colleges to plan careers working in care. Attracting students is key to developing the workforce of the future and building better care.”

Stephen Burke, CEO of Hallmark Foundation, said: “This pioneering event comes at a key time for the future of care. Growing and developing the care workforce has never been more important. We firmly believe that we must reach out to young people earlier and highlight the positive and exciting opportunities in this expanding sector. There really is a job to fulfil everyone’s interests and ambitions in one of the most valuable roles in our country.”