Supporting candidates every step of the way

Our pastoral care provides unlimited and unrestricted support to both candidates and clients, 7 days per week, and covers everything from professional and employment matters, education/training to emotional support.

Candidates are allocated to a WhatsApp group prior to their UK arrival whereby they are in constant contact with a Resource Finder pastoral officer, and the Trust can use our system to host pre and post-arrival induction and training requirements in the form of e-learning, e-books, documents, videos etc.

Our welcome packs are provided to each candidate when they arrive, containing; a welcome letter, contact details for key stakeholders, UK sim card ready to use, UK high street voucher to purchase refreshments upon arrival after a long flight, a notebook, pen, key ring and tote bag.

We also provide a list of local amenities and their addresses/contact details (e.g. places of worship, gyms, sports clubs, schools, nurseries, childcare, supermarkets & shopping, post offices/banks, restaurants/cafés and parks/play areas) and details of the familiarisation service we provide on arrival.

We can provide customised support dependent on what accommodation a client may or may not provide to the candidate upon arrival. We can guide candidates to private accommodation options both for rental and buying, we can offer guidance with tenancy agreements, setting up utilities and organising other elements such as shipping and removals where required.

Perhaps one of the most important factors in ensuring the longevity of placements is providing support for family members. This includes helping candidates to bring their spouse/ dependents to the UK including visa applications, and once they are here, helping them find suitable employment, assisting with understanding the UK education system and identifying suitable local schools, nurseries, playgroups and childcare.

Our multilingual team will also ensure full support for family members where English is not their first language and give advice and guidance on how and where the family can enhance their language skills to enable them to settle more seamlessly into the local area.

Fitting in socially, building networks/friendships and engaging with local interest/cultural groups also underpins our pastoral care package. Our Pastoral Care Team will make a point of building a trusted relationship with the candidate and his/ her family to establish their interests so we can link them with relevant local interest groups, clubs, facilities and social media groups to help them feel at home.

We will set up a local community Facebook Group to enable the candidates we place to meet one another online, build friendships and help one another with specific queries as well as using it as a central point for us to share local information. This group will have clear rules to join and be carefully managed to ensure that posts/comments remain positive, kind and supportive. We also host local community and social events to provide new candidates with access to team members we have placed previously who can provide a support network.

All candidates are provided with contact details of our Pastoral Care Team and are encouraged to use this facility for as long as it is needed. We will keep in touch with placed candidates as often as required, contacting them at least once a week (and often more frequently, particularly in the early day’s post relocation). This weekly contact will continue for the first 3 months in their new job to help embed them into their new community and to identify and resolve any teething problems.

Our Pastoral Care Team will then remain in contact with the nurse and his/her family on a monthly basis for a further 3 months (or longer if needed) to support ongoing welfare. Part of this process includes gathering feedback from placed candidates in our pastoral care service to understand their experience and any new ideas that would be beneficial for future cohorts.