A SKILLS training centre is coming to Bracknell and Wokingham College, funded by Thames Valley Berkshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The College, which is run by Activate Learning, was awarded £600,000 by the LEP to help students upskill and prepare for life in the workplace.
The new Care Skills Training Centre will support health and social care pupils with an “immersive learning environment” to mimic hospital and care settings.
This includes a simulated hospital ward with mannequins so students can practice first aid, emergency care, wound dressing and more.
It will also feature a flat so pupils can practice working in a care environment.
Peter Reynolds, director of career pathways at Activate Learning, said it will help the College increase the number of students training for healthcare roles in Wokingham borough.
“The new state-of-the-art Care Skills Training Centre will enable our students at Bracknell and Wokingham College to take what they are learning within real-life care settings and develop their skills further,” he said.
Katharine Horler, chair of the Thames Valley Berkshire Skills Advisory Panel, led by the LEP, said the Care Skills Training Centre will boost skills in the area.
“The importance of key workers in the health and social care sectors has never been more apparent than during Covid-19 pandemic and with increasing numbers of people wanting to study healthcare related courses, this Centre will provide state-of-the-art training facilities both for the existing and next generation of key workers,” she said.
“It should transform the training of professionals in Berkshire and enable us to meet the increasing local demand within the health and social care workforce.”
The funding grant was awarded through the Government’s Getting Building Fund, and the facility will open its doors in the autumn.
It has been designed in partnership with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, Health Education England, and Skills for Care.
