Did you know there are 1.9 million single parent families in the UK? That’s nearly a quarter of the 7.3 million families of working age in the UK. You know what that means don’t you? If you are a lone parent, you are certainly not alone.

Care Training has been working with and employing lone parents for years. We try to understand the issues and challenges that lie ahead for lone parents in the transition from benefits to work. We’re still learning in fact. What we do know, is every lone parent is different. Every lone parent has their own aspirations and goals and these need to be addressed.

In light of this Care Training has recently developed tailored courses for lone parents. These courses are made up of a number of smaller courses and relate directly to your goal. learndirect allows you to have complete control over what you study and when you study. So you literally design your course with a learndirect tutor.

The New Deal Courses provided by Care Training have now been extended to lone parents. These are only 16 hours per week and focus on the following vocational areas:

• Childcare
• Health & Social Care
• Business Administration
• Retail
• Hospitality
  

The feedback we’ve had from these courses has been immense. The element lone parents enjoy most is working together as a team. We try to group parents together for training, so any worries or concerns are shared. We also hold regular meetings to establish what’s going well and what’s causing problems. Our programmes are designed for lone parents by lone parents.

Most of us spend the best part of our lives deciding what to do for work. There are so many decisions to make and so many things to think about. This is especially true if you’ve been out of work for a long time looking after little ones. Jobs change, skills change and employer expectations change. If you’re unsure as to what kind of work would suit you, The Work Shop could be your next step. The course is designed specifically for people that are unsure of the kind of work they would like to do. We provide career support and can supply work tasters. This course will allow you to make your own decision about work, in your own time.