Meet The Team

Garry Costain

Director

The world of care is changing. It is becoming increasingly more sophisticated and technical. The social care landscape is ever-shifting.

This is good news for those of you who want to work in care. It opens up career opportunities that just a few years ago would have been inconceivable. If you are talented and ambitious, you know that you can enter social care and have a genuine career path to follow. However, to reach your full potential in this new world of social care, learning and training become increasingly more important.

The changing world of social care is good news if you are an employer. It presents opportunities to move into new areas of work. Opportunities that would have been unthinkable in the past. Opportunities that create learning and training needs.

Opportunity Learning Academy will meet these learning and training needs. Our aim is threefold:

Firstly, it goes without saying that we want to provide first-class learning and training.

Secondly, we want to meet the fundamental training needs of those working in social care.

Finally, we want to be at the forefront of social care training; to transform social care training to meet the learning and training needs of everyone who is responding to the increasing demands of the changing social care landscape.

Michelle Friday

Academy Manager

My passion is high quality care and developing people to ‘be the best that they can be’  

I have 26 years’ experience in both the child and adult sector, with job titles such as Behaviour Mentor, Young People’s Advocate, Assistant Manager, Assessor, Clinical Care Trainer, Programme Director for Health and Social Care, Internal Quality Assurer and Apprenticeship Manager.

I moved into the training field as in my time in care I  have come across staff that are tired, undervalued and at times complacent, who have then been expected to attend a training session where they are ‘talked at’ for 3  hours. I have also recognised that training for those working in health and social care is varied and inconsistent.

Throughout my work as an Assessor, I have seen how much confidence can be gained by completing Qualifications and courses and having a trainer that understands what you are going through is essential. When staff were able to acquire skills and knowledge, it is immensely beneficial and instilled confidence in their ability to perform their duties.

I enjoy motivating and encouraging people from all walks of life and get a real sense of achievement when I see people achieve things they may not have thought possible.