Coventry University’s recruitment agency, thefutureworks, is helping the region’s vaccination programme by supplying staff, including students, to work at vaccination sites across Coventry.
The recruitment agency, which is wholly owned by Coventry University, was enlisted by Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and has so far supplied more than 230 temporary staff to the vaccination programme. They are working at Bedworth, the Stoneleigh Mass Vaccination Centre and supporting sites in the Coventry area in various roles including vaccination assistant, stewards and pod administrators.
A fifth of the staff recruited to work by thefutureworks for the vaccination programme are Coventry University students. They join a growing number of their colleagues who have worked on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic through local NHS trusts where their campuses are located, namely in Coventry, London and Scarborough.
The Stoneleigh vaccination centre opened its doors to the public and community at the end of January this year. By February, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust had delivered the highest uptake of vaccination in the UK. This prompted praise from the Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who recognised the Trust’s ‘spectacular effort’ in a televised Downing Street briefing.
Chris Raybould, managing director of PeoplesFuture, parent company of thefutureworks, said: ‘I am delighted that thefutureworks rose to the challenge to deliver the required personnel, including our students, to help our region to roll out a successful vaccination programme. It was a huge team effort as we worked over the Christmas holidays to recruit and process candidates in time for Stoneleigh centre’s opening in January. We have demonstrated our flexibility, responsiveness and capacity to deliver a good service within a tight deadline.’
Haider Tanveer, second year BSc (Hons) Business and Finance student at Coventry University, said: ‘I have been working with the NHS in vaccination centres through thefutureworks while also studying. Working here has been nothing but a positive and pleasant experience; the staff at thefutureworks and the NHS were great in allowing me flexibility to work and study effectively. I’ve gained many useful soft and technical skills from this job while doing my bit to fight the pandemic by helping to get people vaccinated.’
Permanent, temporary, full and part-time opportunities are available through thefutureworks for people seeking employment in the Coventry, Warwickshire and West Midlands area. It also helps students to gain work experience. Its profits are reinvested by the university, which is one of the largest employers and investors in the west Midlands region.
