Author: Dawn Evans

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have introduced changes to the syllabus for first aid training courses. From 31^st December 2016, the Level 2 Emergency First Aid at Work (EFAW) and Level 3 First Aid at Work (FAW) courses must train delegates in the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED). We see this as a very beneficial change, as the importance of defibrillation for cardiac arrest victims cannot be overstated. Research has shown that every minute that passes without defibrillation, the chance of survival decreases by 7 to 10 percent.

At Ajuda, a demonstration showing candidates how to use an AED has long been given as part of our first aid courses.  Combined with the increasing availability of AEDs in public spaces and workplaces, this training will hopefully result in more cardiac arrest victims receiving immediate and effective first aid treatment.

Click here https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training/first-aid/ to book onto one of our first aid courses to learn invaluable life-saving skills from one of our fantastic professional trainers, or call us on 029 2057 6883. Our one-day EFAW course is next running on the 23^rd January; the three-day FAW course on 23rd-25th January. For more course dates, click here to see our full 2017 calendar: https://www.ajuda.org.uk/course-calendar-2017/

Happy Halloween! Today, your dining tables may be decked with all manner of scary, edible delights.

But it’s vital to ensure that your pumpkin pies aren’t cooked in terrifyingly unclean conditions, and that your customers aren’t bobbing for contaminated apples. Because poor food hygiene will haunt both the customer and the business.

Since 2013, food premises in Wales must publicly display their food hygiene inspection scores in-store, and these are also easily accessible online. So a score of less than 3 out of 5 on the Food Standards Agency’s hygiene rating scale may mean that you’re scaring potential customers away.

Good food hygiene practice is therefore critical for a number of major reasons: to meet legal requirements, to protect the health of customers, and to make sure that your business is not a ghost of what it could be with a better rating.

All personnel dealing with food are obligated to receive training in food hygiene. Ajuda run the accredited Level 2 Award in Food Hygiene course, which is next being held on the 15^th November at their training academy in Cardiff Bay. This course will give you all the essential knowledge you need to guarantee food safety in the workplace, so that you avoid making your consumer’s eating experience – and your business’s reputation – a nightmare.

For more information about the course, click here https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training-course/level-2-award-in-food-hygiene-qcf/, or call us on 029 2057 6883.

One of the barriers for female entrepreneurs is the lack of women role models.

As a woman entrepreneur myself I understand how important it is to surround yourself with inspiring role models and feel that when you find and surround yourself with these positive and inspiring influences that whole new world’s and approaches open up to you.

Today, Dawn Evans, company director of Ajuda, delivered free first aid training to students at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in Barry, South Wales, so that more young people have the knowledge and skills to act in situations of medical emergency.

Dawn talked about the scenarios in which first aid may be required, and the appropriate first aid to administer if a person is choking or unconscious. The students, after listening to Dawn and watching both her demonstrations and example videos, were familiarised with the step-by-step procedures of CPR and the recovery position. They were then able to put their new knowledge into practice – everyone delivered CPR on manikins, and in pairs or groups of three, had multiple turns at putting someone into the recovery position, under Dawn’s supervision. By the end of the session, the students felt confident in basic first aid procedures, and far better equipped to deal with such a situation in everyday life.

Many thanks to the students and teachers at St Richard Gwyn Catholic School – it was a pleasure delivering the course today and we’re glad that the students have confidence in their new first aid abilities.

If your school would like to receive free first aid training, please contact us on 029 2057 6883. For more information regarding first aid or any of the training courses we offer, please visit https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training/.

You can also connect with us on Twitter at @Ajuda_Training, or Facebook at @Ajudatraining.

Today, BBC News reported new data from NHS Digital which reveals that hospital admissions for allergic reactions have increased by 33% in the past five years.* The increase in cases requiring emergency medical treatment includes severe allergic reactions to food – the most extreme reaction being anaphylactic shock.

While there has been no definitive answer as to why the proportion of people, especially children, with a food allergy is rapidly increasing, food providers must be able to respond appropriately to the health risk posed by the different kinds of food they serve. Tiny traces of food allergens can cause potentially fatal physical reactions. So, what essential measures must your business take to protect your customers and ensure compliance with current legislation?

Under the EU Food Information for Consumers (EU FIC) Regulation No.1169/2011, businesses that serve or sell food must provide accurate and easily visible information on all products containing any of the 14 major allergens as an ingredient or processing aid. In addition, the EU FIC made the provision of written and/or oral information for non-prepacked food mandatory.* It is the duty of both the employer and the employees to communicate accurate information to the consumer; a failure to do so may lead to criminal prosecution.

Ajuda, based in Cardiff Bay, runs the Level 3 Award in Food Allergens training course so that those working in the food industry can gain a comprehensive knowledge of food allergens that can be immediately applied to workplace practice. The course, which is next running on the 20th October, provides a thorough explanation of legislation, the common allergenic ingredients in food, and how to correctly provide allergen information. For more details, please visit https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training-course/level-3-award-in-food-allergens-for-competent-persons-qcf/, or call us on 029 2057 6883.

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37482798

* https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/food-allergen-labelling-technical-guidance.pdf

In November 2013, Wales implemented a policy stipulating that food premises must publicly display their food hygiene rating. This has already resulted in great improvements in food safety management. But still, in Wales:

– 59 food providers score zero on the FSA scale (meaning urgent improvement necessary).

– 664 score one (meaning major improvement necessary).

– Of these, 11 premises scoring zero, and 104 scoring one, are based in the Cardiff area.*

Looking at figures on a wider geographic scale, failure to comply with food hygiene regulations appears still to be more of an issue. New research has revealed that one in seven takeaways and one in thirteen restaurants in the UK have failed food hygiene inspections.* Due to uncleanliness and substandard procedures, these businesses have failed to gain a pass on the Food Standards Agency’s hygiene rating scale. This scale ranges from zero to five – scoring between zero and two constitutes a fail, while scoring between three and five constitutes a pass.

With nearly 30,000 out of approximately 460,000 businesses failing inspections in the UK, it is clear that we need greater recognition of the importance of adhering to food hygiene regulations, and of receiving food hygiene training.

If your business produces, serves, or sells food in any shape or form, be it a restaurant, corner shop, hotel, or an educational establishment like a school, college, or playgroup, it must be compliant with food hygiene standards. Not only is practising good food hygiene important from a legal perspective, it also crucially prevents damaging both the health of your customers and the reputation of your business. And with your food hygiene rating being publicly displayed, in-store and/or online, a good score means a better image for your business.

As an employer, it is your legal responsibility to ensure that your staff undertake food hygiene training. And with so much at stake, it is easy to see why training is essential.

Ajuda offers high-quality, informative food hygiene training courses throughout the year. With our Level 2 Award in Food Hygiene course, which is next running on the 18^th October, you can be sure to gain all the knowledge about food hygiene that your business needs to ensure good practice.

Book here at https://www.ajuda.org.uk/training/food-hygiene/, or call us on 029 2057 6883.

*Food hygiene rating statistics for Wales and Cardiff: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/, 5/10/16. You can search for the food
hygiene scores of premises in your local authority via this website.
*Statistics regarding the failure of food hygiene inspections by UK businesses:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/23/revealed-uk-takeaways-fail-food-hygiene-tests-restaurants-takeaways.

On Monday 3^rd October Dawn Evans, the managing director of Ajuda, appeared live on the Cardiff News programme at 6pm on Made in Cardiff TV. This channel brings the daily local news to our screens and also celebrates the people of our city, so Dawn’s new accolade of Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 was certainly an inspiring piece of news that had to be documented. On the show, she discusses the roots of her business idea – how saving her daughter in a choking incident evolved into the multi-course training company now called Ajuda.

And the television experience did not end there for Dawn. On 5^th October, she made another appearance on Made in Cardiff TV, this time on Press Pit, its current affairs programme. Joined by Emma del Torto of Effective HRM, she discussed her take on some the most pressing local, national, and international issues (as well as the more outlandish, such as the regional accents of cod!)

Dawn Evans, accompanied by Matthew Harris from Made in Cardiff TV and Emma del Torto from Effective HRM.

Catch up on Dawn’s TV appearances here:

Cardiff News 6pm – https://www.madeincardiff.tv/player/?playercat=90541&v=2

Press Pit –  https://www.madeincardiff.tv/player/?playercat=90427&v=2

You can also follow Made in Cardiff on Twitter at @MadeInCardiffTV and Ajuda at @Ajuda_Training.

Dawn Evans, founder of one of the UK’s leading training providers Ajuda, has been named Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

Dawn and her team have trained many thousands of people in skills to keep themselves, their staff and their customers safe while at work and at home. Dawn is now recognised across Wales and the UK as an inspirational business woman as well as an expert in first aid.

Wesley Skene, organiser of the South Wales Business Awards, said:

“Dawn is a truly inspirational businesswoman, who has achieved some outstanding milestones with Ajuda. She’s at the forefront of the Welsh entrepreneurship revolution and will be one of the key figureheads in the local economy for many years to come”

Ajuda was started in 2009 and the team now run 52 different courses in the first aid, food hygiene and health and safety areas. The expanding company also offers vocational qualifications and employability skills’ courses.

Born and bred in Cardiff, Dawn, now 45, is very active in her own community and is a mentor for Business Wales and the Princes Trust. She also founded HeartStart Cardiff, a charity delivering lifesaving CPR skills. She has won several awards for her community contribution, innovation, education and recently met HRH Prince Philip where she discussed her passion for helping others.

Dawn said: “The way in which I inspire others to be entrepreneurial is to make sure I lead by example and encourage each individual to be the best that they possibly can be. I am immensely passionate about my company and the people who pass through it. Honesty and integrity lies at the core of this business.”

First aid became a passion for Dawn after she saved her own daughter’s life when she was a toddler and nearly choked to death. Dawn started sharing first aid skills and the fledgling business grew. It became Ajuda three years later. Since then the company has gone from strength to strength and Dawn’s ambition is to increase the portfolio of courses from 52 to 85 over the next 12 months.

She is also developing a full mentoring programme for young female entrepreneurs:

“I feel both honoured and privileged to receive this prestigious award. I hope by sharing my success with others, I will inspire them to also follow their dreams and to not give up. Entrepreneurship may be challenging at times, however it’s highly rewarding. Just remember dream big, because your dreams may come true, mine did!”

Original article can be found here: https://www.journalism.co.uk/press-releases/founder-of-one-of-the-uk-s-leading-training-companies-has-been-named-female-entrepreneur-of-the-year/s66/a674383/