HC-One’s Darlington Support Office teams celebrate inspirational apprentices’ journeys and stories during annual National Apprenticeship Week 2025

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HC-One’s Darlington Support Office’s teams are proud to be celebrating inspirational apprentices who have been sharing their personal stories and apprenticeship journeys to showcasing the career progression opportunities available and encourage more young people and men to consider completing an apprenticeship within the Social Care Sector.

HC-One apprenticeships are offered to both newly recruited and existing colleagues to help develop their skills, knowledge, and confidence. HC-One currently offers over 25 different apprenticeship programmes from Level 2 through to Degree and Masters level programmes and currently has over 590 colleagues undertaking an apprenticeship in England.

In 2024, HC-One saw 200 colleagues successfully complete their apprenticeship programmes in England, 52 of which achieved distinctions and are currently supporting over 1,000 colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales to complete an apprenticeship and qualification programme within the next two to three years.

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In celebration of the 18th annual National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) between 10th – 16th February 2025, Pheobe Bowerbank, aged 19, has been sharing her personal apprenticeship journey following taking the opportunity to join HC-One’s Procurement Team as a Procurement Assistant Apprentice. Phoebe undertook a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship with Darlington Borough Council Learning & Skills, which she completed in March 2024, and she is now a full-time employee working as a Procurement Assistant.

Sebastian Gazda, Network and Telephony Apprentice who is doing his Level 4 Network Engineer apprenticeshipSebastian Gazda, Network and Telephony Apprentice who is doing his Level 4 Network Engineer apprenticeship
Sebastian Gazda, Network and Telephony Apprentice who is doing his Level 4 Network Engineer apprenticeship

Pheobe Bowerbank, Procurement Assistant at HC-One, said:

“Completing an apprenticeship is a great alternative to full-time college and university. It gives you real work experience, whilst still enabling you to learn and gain a qualification at the same time.

“Now I’ve completed my Business Administration apprenticeship I’d like to complete a qualification specifically focused on Procurement to gain advanced knowledge and to progress in my role within the Procurement Team, ideally through an apprenticeship route.”

Sebastian Gazda, aged 29, a Network and Telephony Apprentice joined HC-One’s IT Team in early May 2024, commencing his Level 4 Network Engineer apprenticeship with QA limited, which he’s due to complete in April 2025.

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Pheobe Bowerbank, Procurement Assistant at HC-One who undertook a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship with Darlington Borough Council Learning & SkillsPheobe Bowerbank, Procurement Assistant at HC-One who undertook a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship with Darlington Borough Council Learning & Skills
Pheobe Bowerbank, Procurement Assistant at HC-One who undertook a Level 3 Business Administration Apprenticeship with Darlington Borough Council Learning & Skills

Before pursuing an apprenticeship at HC-One, Sebastian previously worked in Cryptocurrency. Sebastian joined HC -One to hone his skills with traditional networking.

Sebastian hopes to become more well-rounded in the sector by completing his apprenticeship to pursue a career within networking. After completing his Level 4 Network Engineer apprenticeship, Sebastian hopes to progress towards completing his Level 5 Networking apprenticeship or a Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certificate.

Sebastian Gazda, Network and Telephony Apprentice at HC-One, stated:

“I wanted to do an apprenticeship as there is more practical work involved whilst learning, especially in Networking. It is much easier to retain information whilst you are applying everything you have learned. It’s also great knowing the work I do benefits residents and staff alike.”

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Dariusz Brysz, Quality Assurance Manager at HC-One who is completing his Level 4 Quality Practitioner apprenticeship programme within the Quality TeamDariusz Brysz, Quality Assurance Manager at HC-One who is completing his Level 4 Quality Practitioner apprenticeship programme within the Quality Team
Dariusz Brysz, Quality Assurance Manager at HC-One who is completing his Level 4 Quality Practitioner apprenticeship programme within the Quality Team

Dariusz Brysz, aged 38, a Quality Assurance Manager who joined HC-One in June 2024, is completing his Level 4 Quality Practitioner apprenticeship programme within the Quality Team.

Dariusz has worked in Health and Social Care since the age of 20. Dariusz started his career journey in care by working as a Care Assistant and progressing to the positions of Senior Care Assistant, Deputy Home Manager, Registered Home Manager, Area Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, CQC Inspector and now Quality Assurance Manager at HC-One.

After completing his Level 4 Quality Practitioner apprenticeship, Dariusz wants to continue learning about regulations, laws, systems and processes that are constantly evolving to keep up to date with all new tools and legislations.

Dariusz Brysz, Quality Assurance Manager at HC-One, stated:

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“I love regulations and structure, and I have a consistent approach to the quality of care. The apprenticeship has helped me further develop my skills and knowledge to help make me better at what I do.

“Apprenticeships are a great opportunity to achieve a recognised qualification which will help you to progress and go further in your career. They can help make improvements to people in our care lives.”

Susan Beasley, HC-One’s Apprenticeship and Qualifications Manager, stated:

“Apprenticeships have had a positive impact in attracting the right people into our Support Office roles, introducing us to individuals who are keen to learn and make a difference by choosing to pursue their career within the Social Care sector that we may not have met through traditional recruitment channels.

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“They also offer valuable accredited training opportunities for experienced staff to develop their skills and knowledge whilst maintaining their employment. The use of both routes has seen colleagues in our support function upskill and bring new knowledge to their roles along with fresh ideas to make improvements in how we do things.

“Apprenticeships have been a valuable pipeline and integral part of our learning and development offering to colleagues for many years, with apprenticeship opportunities offered across various departments, including IT, HR, Learning and Development, Commissioning and Finance. Ultimately supporting increased productivity and colleague job satisfaction, as well as helping us to recruit a more diverse workforce.”

For more information on career opportunities at HC-One visit https://apply.hc-one.co.uk/

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