The SEND garden at Cambridge Regional College (CRC), where special educational needs students grow vegetables, herbs and flowers in their horticultural studies, has been given a transformation thanks to a joint initiative between CRC, Job Centre Plus, local charity Groundwork East, and Encore.
Adults seeking work took part in a two-week caretaking and maintenance course at Cambridge Regional College, which included completely revamping the SEND garden. They also spruced up a second area at one of the college entrances making it look smart and tidy, and restored a moss-covered patio area used by students for recreation.
At the end of the fortnight of work experience all five participants received a qualification and an invitation to attend an interview with Encore for jobs within the company’s multi-skilled facilities team based in Cambridge.
Nick Archer, HR and Recruitment Manager, at Encore, said:
“This project has been a great opportunity for Encore to engage with the community and to home-grow our own talent for future employees as professional caretakers and concierge staff looking after our growing property portfolio.
Our philosophy has always been 'to care for our properties as though we lived there' and that is what we hope our potential new caretaker staff will do also. It has been a pleasure to work with Cambridge Regional College on this initiative.”
For more information about Cambridge Regional College click here.
For more information about Groundwork East click here.
For current caretaker vacancies with Encore click here
