System Partners
Chosen Charities 25/26
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From August 2025 if you have staff members who are on long-term sick, or are frequently having time off sick, or who are struggling to work due to emotional or mental health problems or musculoskeletal issues such as back pain, there is now a range of support options available that areFREE and can be accessed rapidly, including:
· Therapy and counselling services for mental and emotional health
· Physiotherapy to support musculoskeletal issues such as back pain
· Holistic care to support the management oflong-term conditions
· Access to specialist Occupational Health services
· Support with career choices and transition to other job roles
For more detailed information and how to make a referral, please visit: wypartnership.co.uk/healthy-working-life-bradford
"Facing financial hardship and on a low income?"
Bradford District Credit Union are pleased to be working with Bradford District and Craven Health & Care Partnership to offer savings and loans facilities for paid employees from adult social care, primary care, and those working in the voluntary and community sector who are delivering health and social care activities in their roles located in BradfordDistrict & Craven.
The Credit Builder Loan of £200 - £300 is available untilSeptember 2025 for adult social care employees.
Managing your finances isn’t always easy, especially when you’ve got a demanding job. That’s why the Credit Union partner with local employers to make it a bit easier.
To find out more please visit: Loans- Bradford District Credit Union
The Care Workers' Charity Crisis Grant aims to support care sector workers who have experienced a change that has caused significant financial impact, such as a sudden or expected loss of income, an unexpected illness or injury, a relationship breakdown, a sudden change of living circumstances, domestic abuse or death of a close relative.
Grants are assessed on a case by-case basis and up to £500 can be awarded for the following:
• Daily Living Costs
• Essential White goods/Household Items
• Car and Household Repairs
• Moving Costs
• Funeral Costs
• Bankruptcy and Debt Relief Order (DRO) application fee
• Fees to Prevent Eviction
Please find further information and the eligibility criteria at: https://www.thecareworkerscharity.org.uk/crisis-grant/
The Wheels to Care project offers an exciting opportunity for Home Support providers to increase workforce capacity, through providing a lease vehicle to enable the recruitment of new staff and / or providing existing staff who cannot drive or don’t have access to a vehicle.
The project supports the cost for the first 6 months ofthe fully managed lease of a 50cc or 125cc moped to the care worker from Wheelsto Work (a national Charity), insurance and safety equipment, plus provisionaldriving licence costs and CBT training where necessary.
BCA have sufficient funds (from HEE) to support up to 20 careworkers through this project, so email workforce@bradfordcareassociation.org ifyour Home Support organisation would like to be involved or you have a workerwho would benefit from the project.
The Bradford Cares Recruitment Portal for Adult SocialCare has been developed for two main purposes: for care providers to advertise their job vacancies; and to inform individuals looking for work about the sector, the range of jobs available and the career / progression opportunities the sector can offer.
Bradford Cares will become a 'one stop shop' to help 'match' people looking for work in the adult care sector with care providers who have job vacancies.
BCA will provide a service for independent care providers, who are BCA members, to upload their job vacancies to the portal for no charge.
To get involved and to find out more please email ami@bradfordcareassociation.org
The Yorkshire and Humber International Recruitment (YHIR)Partnership have received fund from DHSC until June 2026 to assist care providers with ethical international recruitment (IR) with ADASS, Leeds CityCouncil and the YH Care Association Alliance managing the use and disbursement of this funding.
There is a range of support available for care providers, including a ‘one stop advice hub’ at Yorkshire and Humber Regional International Recruitment Hub > NY Resourcing, free webinars, resources, and toolkits, as well as bursaries to help with the cost of IR.
There are 3 bursaries available:
1. Care Providers Home Office Approved Sponsor (HOAS)Bursary: This bursary is for Care Providers who do not currently hold a sponsorship licence, but who wish to apply to the Home Office to become an approved sponsor.
There is a comprehensive support package to helpProviders understand their responsibilities and the commitment of being a sponsor, prior to applying.
The YHIR team will communicate with the home office (UKVI)once you have submitted their application to request that the processing is expedited.
Upon approval of becoming a Home Office Approved Sponsor(HOAS), the project will reimburse the cost of the application.
This Bursary has increased to £574 (small employer< 50 staff) or £1579 (large > 50 staff) applicable to applications received from 1st August 2025.
2. Care Providers Sponsorship Bursary: To support HOAS sponsors who make an offer of employment to a displaced worker(introduced via this project), there is a bursary of £1750 per worker employed, which can be offered subject to eligibility criteria. The YHIR partnership will provide support to Providers to confirm eligibility, and the bursary will be released once the worker starts employment.
3. Workers Bursary Visa cost: The bursary for eligible workers provides a cash bursary of the cost of a Visa, upon written receipt of a conditional offer of new employment. Workers eligible for this will be a confirmed displaced worker who will already be on the existing project caseload. They will be supported by their nominated Case Worker (within the local authority area that they live in) to apply for this bursary and funds will be provided upfront to enable them to pay for their Visa. Eligibility and proof of offer of employment will apply. TheBursary is only for the displaced worker and does not include their dependants.
This Bursary has increased to £304 applicable to applications received from 1st August 2025.
For further information please contact: Richard Nicholson (IR Project Manager) on richard.nicholson2@leeds.gov.uk
The LDSS was launched in September 2024 by theDepartment of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The scheme supports the non-regulated ASC workforce to advance their careers, develop new skills and specialisms and gain recognition for their existing expertise. It does this by allowing eligible ASC employers to claim towards costs they have incurred when putting their staff on certain courses and qualifications.
The funding pot is limited and once exhausted, claims submitted will not receive reimbursement.
The scheme is now accepting claims for eligible courses and qualifications that have been paid for in financial year 2025 to 2026, aswell as those paid for in financial year 2024 to 2025. Regardless of the financial year in which the training course or qualification was paid for, a 3-month claims window applies:
- for training courses - claims must be submitted within 3 months of course completion.
- for qualifications - an initial ‘qualification start’ claim must be submitted within 3 months of the qualification being paid for and started (whichever is the later date) and the ‘qualification completion’ claim must be submitted within 3 months of qualification completion
In addition to this guidance, employers should refer to the following documents published alongside this guidance:
- a comprehensive list of training opportunities eligible for funding from the LDSS
- grant determination letters detailing the scheme terms and conditions. You should refer to:
- the grant determination letter for 2025 to 2026 for claims relating to training courses or qualifications paid for between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026 (inclusive)
- the grant determination letter for 2024 to 2025 for claims relating to training courses or qualifications paid for between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 (inclusive)
Where courses or qualifications have been paid for in instalments, the grant determination letter applies according to the date that the first payment was made.
LDSS funding must be claimed by an eligible employer, towards the cost of eligible training courses and qualifications undertaken by eligible staff. To qualify, the employer (including local authorities) must meet all of the following criteria. They must:
- provide an ASC service
- directly employ care staff in England
- have an up-to-date account on the AdultSocial Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS)
For more information and assistance with claiming the funds and completing the ASC-WDS, please contact Denise Baran, Skills for Care LocalityManager for Bradford at: denise.baran@skillsforcare.org.uk