Our office is in Saxmundham which is easily reached from London and the East of England. (Click map for larger version)
Take the train from London (Liverpool Street Station), some of these trains go direct through to Saxmundham (depending on the time of travel), otherwise you change at Ipswich and take the local train to Saxmundham (Lowestoft line).
Finding us in Saxmundham
Come out of the station, cross the line and make your way either to our head office or our training centre, whichever you need. They are only about 200 metres away in the High Street.
(Click the map on the right to see a bigger version)
Interview, Induction and Safer People Moving Training daysThese are held every week on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. They are held at our office, so you can meet our staff and they can meet and get to know you also. You will have a one-to-one interview and the rest of the days will include group discussions, role-play, videos, talks, demonstrations, practical moving & handling and continence management training. Each person will also have to sit a theory test based on the moving & handling training that they have recived. You will need to pass this test in order for us to be able to offer you any work.
Also enclosed with this information is reading material for Food Hygiene training, there will be a multiple choice questionnaire towards the end of the Induction week for this training.
On the Thursday evening from 5:30pm - 8:30pm you will take part in a basic cookery lesson which will consist of cooking a main meal, dessert and a cake. The food that you cook will be available to you as your evening meal. There will be no cost to you for attending this lesson.
If you have any questions regarding Food Hygiene training please e-mail training@christiescare.com or telephone 00 44 (0) 1728 605 000 and ask for the training department.
We will provide lunch, but if you are on a special diet, you are welcome to bring your own food.
You will need to arrive at Christies Care Training centre at 09:50am on Tuesday and no later than 8.45am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. You will be leaving on Friday no later than 5:45pm
Booking Accomodation for Interview and TrainingFor Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights you will need to stay locally and we include a list of local Guest Houses for your information. Please book these before you leave for the UK. DO NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL YOU ARRIVE IN THE UK, and notify us where you will be staying.
Please settle your bill with the Guest House before you leave.
Travel from Heathrow Airport to London Liverpool Street If you bring a lot of luggage you will get tired. The underground is like a rabbit warren with lots of steps up and down.
Travelling from Heathrow Airport you can take the underground train to Liverpool Street Station. You need to catch a train on the Piccadilly line and change at Holborn station onto the Central line. When you come out of the Arrivals Hall at the airport you should see a sign for the underground, follow the signs and buy a ticket at the ticket office. You can then go down the escalators and catch a train. The journey will take about an hour and cost about £3.00.
If the plane is late or you are in a great hurry and you have a lot of luggage you can catch the Heathrow Express to Paddington station and then continue by underground train to Liverpool Street It will take about 15-20 minutes to get to Paddington and costs about £12.00. At Paddington station you can catch the underground train on the circle line via Kings Cross to Liverpool Street.
You can look at the London Underground website www.thetube.com which will give you a coloured map and a journey planner to help you see where you are going.Travel from Stansted Airport to Saxmundham either by Train or Coach By Coach
There is no direct coach service from Stansted to Saxmundham. You will need to take the coach to Colchester (leaving every hour on the hour) costing £10.50. The journey takes approximately 1 hour 5 minutes. You then take the train from Colchester to Ipswich to Saxmundham costing £8.10. This journey takes approximately 1 hour 10 minutes. Trains from Colchester to Ipswich run about twice an hour (it is on the same line as London to Ipswich but much closer to Ipswich).
By Train
When you come out of the Arrivals Hall at the airport you should see a sign for the train station, follow the signs and you take the Stansted Express to London Liverpool Street station. You will need to purchase your ticket at the ticket office and this costs £13.80. The journey will take about 45 minutes and the trains run every 15 minutes on teh hour.
Once at Liverpool Street you then take the train going to Saxmundham. These trains run infrequently (see list below).
07:38am 15:39pm 19:32pm
09:38am 17:00pm 21:00pm
11:38am 17:30pm
13:38pm
Travel from London Liverpool Street to Saxmundham Purchasing your rail ticket on the Tuesday morning, you need to catch a train from Liverpool Street, no later than 07:38am on National Express East Anglia (this is the name of the railway company) towards Norwich. This will take you directly to Saxmundham, where you will arrive at 09:39am. It is essential that you do not catch the train later than 07:38am on the Tuesday, otherwise you will arrive late.
Travel from Luton Airport by TrainWhen you arrive at Luton Airport you need to take the free shuttle bus to Luton Airport Parkway (this is the main railway station for services to London). This shuttle service runs from the main terminal building every 15 minutes during peak hours. Once at Luton Airport Parkway you will need to take a train to central London. The cost of this journey is approx. £12.10. From central London yuo will need to take the underground to London Liverpool street where you catch a train going to Saxmundham.
You can look at the London Underground website www.thetube.com which will give you a coloured map and journey plannet to help you see where you are going.
Criminal Records Bureau DisclosuresYou may already be aware under new regulations all Care Workers MUST have an Enhanced Disclosures from the Criminal Records Bureau.
This is a requirement under the National Minimum Care Standards, which came into being on April 1st 2003.
When attending Induction Training you will be given a form to complete to enable this to be done and therefore it is important that you bring your I.D. documents with you such as passport, driving licence etc.
The cost of applying for an Enhanced Disclosure is currently £42.00 and this is a cost to you. This money will be collected from you when you attend training so please make sure you have it available in either cash, cheque or postal orders made payable to Christies Care Ltd.
This money is non-refundable if you fail your training.
Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) All people who are from the accession states that have just joined the EU need to register with the Home Office once they begin working in the UK and obtain a registration certificate under the Worker Registration Scheme.
When you attend your induction and training days you will be given a form to complete and this needs to be sent off to the Home Office. Along with this form you will need to send two recent passport sized photographs, current passport or National Identity Card and letter for Christies Care confirming employment. Also there is a cost to do this and it is £94.50 including postage, which you have to pay for yourself. The payment must be sent off with your form and documents.Opening a bank account in the UKIf you wish to open a bank account here in Saxmundham we can assist you in opening a full current account with Barclays Bank. This is free to open and you are able to use Christies Care as your base address.
BARCLAYS BANK PLC
To open a bank account with Barclays Bank PLC you will need to provide:
Passport
Driving Licence (if applicable providing it shows address)
Bank Statement (original, less than 3 months old)
And/or Utility Bill (original, less than 3 months old)
All the above MUST be originals - not photocopiesDo not forget to bring your documents Please bring with you the originals of your identification or legal documents, such as passport, visa and birth certificate. There are very strict rules and we follow them. If you are a driver, we will need to see your current driving licence. If you have not already supplied us with two passport size photographs please bring these along with you if you can, otherwise there will be an opportunity to have these taken while you are with us.
Failure to produce these documents will mean that we will be unable to proceed with your interview and therefore unable to offer you work.
For your Safer People Moving Training days (Wednesday and Thursday all day) please wear loose fitting clothing (preferably trousers) and flat covered-in comfortable shoes, or bring a pair of trainers with you.NOTEWe do advise carers that it is important they do have mobile telephones. You cannot buy mobile telephones in Saxmundham as it is only a small market town and you would need to purchase these from a larger town either before you attend induction/training days or soon after.