Project: Cornwall Works 50+ Cares

The project will pilot a series of new ideas to raise the profile of Cornwall’s social care sector and help develop the skills needed to care for an ageing population. In particular, Cornwall Works 50+ Cares will work with employers and employer networks to look at ways of improving recruitment and career pathways, and retaining the skills and expertise of older workers in the care sector. The project is one of a number of initiatives designed to address the employment, skills, and workforce development challenges presented by an aging population across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.





Project feature

The project aims to work with employers throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to:

  • ensure that career progression routes are available to employees, encouraging them to stay in the sector
  • explore ways of providing support for older workers to stay in the sector
  • look at ways to enhance training provision across the sector.

The project will use the Design Council’s Designs of The Time (DoTT) process to unlock creativity and innovation in the delivery of the project – including through co-designing solutions with local communities and stakeholders.

The transnational partners from France and Finland each represent European regions that face similar demographic change and are keen to share good practice.

The project will also explore finding ways to bring generations together with the aim of developing greater understanding and rapport.

The project is complemented by the Priority 4 Cornwall Works 50+ ESF Convergence project, which is piloting a series of new ideas to address the difficulties faced by older workers in entering the workforce, focusing on both improving engagement with current provision and anything else that is needed to help them re-enter work. For more information, see the Cornwall Works 50+ page on the Convergence Cornwall website.




Contact details

Andrea Gilbert, Social Inclusion Coordinator
Cornwall Council
Lemon Quay House Lemon Quay, Truro Cornwall, TR1 2PU
(01872) 355060




Key project message

Carolyn Rule, Cornwall Council economy portfolio holder, said:

‘This project is designed to help transform the employment opportunities and training support for people in the health and care sectors across Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly.’




Project impact

This project is part of a desire to help Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly improve its capacity to tackle demographic change, including the transformation of the social care workforce through raising its profile, tackling its training needs, and improving career progression opportunities, thereby meeting the future care needs of an ever-increasing aging population.

The outcome of the project will be to help ensure both that Cornwall Works is better placed to tackle worklessness by engaging older workers and NEETs alike as part of the potential labour market for the care sector; and that skills development, in particular in conjunction with the LSC, is developed. This will be achieved through both mainstream provision and the second half of the 2007–13 ESF Convergence programme.




Project promotional materials

Cornwall Works 50+ Cares downloadables

Year 1: engage with over 100 ESF participants and individuals from delivery partners, including community workers, policy makers, educationalists and employers through the DoTT research and development phase. Solutions will be developed in response to these findings and worked into pilot projects.

The project will be subject to both an interim and final evaluation.




Key data

  • Region: Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
  • Sub-regions: Cornwall
  • Objective: Competitiveness and employment
  • Priority area: 5: Improving the skills of the local workforce
  • Themes:
  • Co-financer: ITM
  • Lead partner: Cornwall Council
  • Partner organisations: Cornwall Council, National Institute for Health and Welfare, TARMO DESIGN+, Conseil General du Finistere, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Primary Care Trust, South West Age Management Standing Group, Design Council, Jobcentre Plus, Inclusion Cornwall
  • Key sectors:
    • Care
  • Activities:
    • More innovative and productive ways of working
  • Key target groups:
    • Carers
  • Funding: Cornwall Council £66,668, ESF Convergence £199,999
  • Start date: 01/04/2009
  • End date: 31/03/2012
  • Project web site: http://www.convergencecornwall.com/convergence-investments/cornwall-works-50-cares.php