The co-workers
As a Switch Now co-worker you will wear a grey logoed uniform: t-shirt or polo top, sweatshirt, hoodie or fleece.
You will arrive between 9-9:15am so you can find a locker, get yourself settled, make yourself a drink, catch up with the other co-workers and be ready for the working day to start at 9:30am.
There is a board with a plan for the day, where you will see where you are learning, training and working. This is planned in advance.
You may be working off site, so you will need to bring a packed lunch and drink. Don’t forget appropriate footwear, a jacket, a hat, sunscreen (during the summer). You can bring your own boots in to wear or we have plenty you can borrow, as well as other necessary PPE.
Your day will always start with a briefing of the plan for the day and end with you reflecting on your day’s learning with your fellow co-workers and staff.
The main things to remember are to work as a team, communicate with your peers and work safely while you learn new skills. You can always ask for help if you need it.
Here are a few of the places you may work throughout the day:
Training Workshop
In the training workshop you will learn new skills in your practical training by working on a variety of enterprise projects made to order. This may include a variety of products such as a bug hotel, bird house, planter, tealight holder and much more!
Working in here means always thinking about working safely and remembering your PPE.
You will always be shown how to use a tool or how to do the job correctly – this may be from a member of staff or a co-worker as we encourage peer support.
Training kitchen
In the training kitchen you will be learning through preparing food for co-worker and staff lunches, making food to support local community charities or learning important life and transferable skills like budgeting, making meals, washing, etc.
We make cakes to order for a special occasion or a family treat! We need one week notice and they can be delivered locally for free.
We make lunches to order, for a variety of companies and organisations. We are delighted to boast about our 5-star EHO rating in our training kitchen.
Please email us for more details.
Switch Now Catering
We offer catering and hospitality to businesses, this includes cakes, buffets and afternoon teas, which meet special dietary requirements. Please email us for more details.
Off-site Work Projects
You may go off-site to work at one of our many community projects around the local area. These include: The Chilli Farm, Paxton Pits, Riverside Miniature Railway, The Pightle, our own allotment, McCartney House, St Neots Foodbank, St Neots Con Club, Switch Now Digital Clinic and many more! We also work on some special projects with St Neots Festival, St Neots Town Council, Autism Research Centre and Cambridge University Hospital Trust.
Getting involved in these projects will offer you the opportunity to be part of the local and wider community and showcase the skills and knowledge you have developed.
Qualifications
At Switch Now we recognise that qualifications are an important part of your learning and development and can support you on your journey to becoming employed. You may spend some of your Switch Now day working on your qualifications on site. We deliver a variety of work-focused, relevant qualifications through Cambridgeshire Skills. We can also support you to improve you maths, English and IT and to gain specialist job-specific qualifications, such as Food Hygiene, Health & Safety and more!
