NHS and The King’s Trust team up to open healthcare careers to under-represented young people
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH) has partnered with The King's Trust to help young people from under-represented backgrounds into paid healthcare careers.
CLCH is expanding its Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Summer School Programme for 2026, with a stronger focus on helping young people gain the skills, experience and opportunities they need to move into healthcare careers.
The programme takes on 25 students each year. It gives hands-on experience of NHS roles and hopes to open doors to paid jobs, apprenticeships and internships.
AHPs are the third largest clinical workforce in the NHS, with 185,000 staff including dieticians, occupational therapists, orthoptics, paramedics, physiotherapists, podiatrists and speech and language therapists. Yet many young people still struggle to access these careers because they often have limited access to work experience, fewer professional networks and low awareness of the range of NHS roles available. Financial pressures can also make unpaid placements and training opportunities harder to access. Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) can face extra barriers to entering healthcare careers.
Patsy Fung, Chief AHP at CLCH, said: “Building on the success of the CLCH AHP Summer School Programme in 2024 and 2025, we are absolutely delighted to be partnering with The King's Trust to scale up the programme this year.
“There will be a focus on employability to ensure that each AHP Summer School student has access to a clear pathway in the form of paid employment, an apprenticeship based on the 'earn while you learn' model or an internship to gain valuable on-the-job training.”
The programme aligns with the mission of The King’s Trust, a charity founded by His Majesty King Charles III, which supports young people facing barriers to work.
Victoria Bartholomew, Delivery Manager for Health & Social Care programmes in London at The King’s Trust said: "The King’s Trust is proud to be working alongside Central London Community Healthcare to create more inclusive pathways into healthcare, ensuring young people from under-represented backgrounds can access meaningful, paid career opportunities. This partnership is about opening doors and giving young people the confidence, experience and clear pathways they need to build sustainable careers within the NHS."
At CLCH, 900 registered AHPs work across seven professions; more are needed to meet growing demand and support the NHS 10-year-plan shift from hospital to community care.
Young people who take part gain insight into roles they may not have seen before.
Elizabeth, a 16-year-old from North Central London, said: “The experience gave me valuable insight into not only what roles the AHPs are and how they work in unison, but also the vitality of our AHPs. The Summer School really opened my eyes and exposed me to areas of the career which I didn't even know existed.”
