
Nineteen of the finest apprentices
working in Wales have had their hard work and dedication celebrated at a
special awards ceremony.
Employers and practitioners who have
gone that extra mile in their commitment to work based learning were also
recognised at the ceremony, held in the spectacular surroundings of Cardiff and
Vale College’s City Centre Campus and hosted by Ross Harries.
The apprentices’ commitment was
celebrated at the fifth Annual Awards ceremony held by the Quality Skills
Alliance – a consortium of work-based learning providers made up of 23 partners
and subcontractors. The awards celebrate excellence and achievement, and the
winners were chosen by a panel comprising the QSA’s chair – CAVC Principal Kay
Martin – and board.
The overall award for Apprentice of
the Year went to JGR Training apprentice Caitlin Perry. Chosen to represent the
National Assembly for Wales at a number of events, Caitlin has been a shining
example of an outstanding apprentice.
Caitlin successfully achieved her
Foundation Apprenticeship in Business Administration – alongside Welsh lessons
and customer service training – and three weeks later embarked upon a Foundation
Apprenticeship in Customer Service. Since then she has secured a permanent
position at the organisation and is keen to progress to a Level 3 Customer
Service Apprenticeship.
Caitlin
said: “I was so pleased to win two awards this evening. I won the Business,
Administration and Financial Services Award and also I won the overall
Apprentice of the Year award which I wasn’t expecting at all! There were so
many great candidates here this evening and hearing a bit about what they did –
I wasn’t expecting to win it! I’m absolutely thrilled to have won the both of
them.
“I saw in the booklet that there was an overall Apprentice of the Year
Award and I thought ‘Well, it could be me but there’s no chance it will be me’.
Then when they said my name it took a moment to click! I’m just so thrilled and
I still can’t get over it, I’m so pleased.
“My family are thrilled for me; they are absolutely over the moon. I’ve
had messages from relatives already congratulating me! It’s just such an
achievement and I’m just so pleased that I have won these awards.
“I would like to thank my parents for their encouragement throughout the
process. Lydia Harris from JGR Group, my college tutor – she’s been absolutely
incredible and supportive throughout. And my employer, the National Assembly
for Wales – it’s been an excellent experience working there and all the
opportunities I have received along the way. It’s been phenomenal.”
The ICT Apprentice of the Year went
to Matthew Hewer, who is employed by B2B IT Services and was nominated by the
CAVC’s risual academy, which is run in partnership with Microsoft.
Soon into his apprenticeship it
became clear that Matthew possessed skills and knowledge beyond his years.
Passionate about his work, he has been a role model for his peers and completed
his framework within nine months.
Selected to compete at two
WorldSkills competitions, Matthew also made significant contributions to the
College’s cadets and also to the Duke of Edinburgh Award, qualifying as an
adult instructor and leader.
Matthew said: “I
feel great, it’s an honour really to pick up the award. I’ve got my tutor,
Peter Franklin to thank, he’s helped me and put me through WorldSkills. I’ve
also got my directors John and Luke; they’ve pushed me near enough to my limit
a lot of the time but at the end of the day I’ve learned from it and gained
from it.
“I want to become a manager. I’ve been able to learn about my field a
lot more, within WorldSkills I’ve been able to meet new people that I probably
never would have met before and with the College’s knowledge I can just gain
from it and keep working towards my goals.”
Cardiff and Vale College runs a
successful apprenticeship scheme with Deloitte at its Cardiff Delivery Centre.
Deloitte apprentice Rob Young won the Role Model Award; an award recognising
apprentices who are an inspiration to work based learners.
Rob’s ability to make the transition
from an apprentice at Deloitte to fully-fledged employee exemplifies the
vocational pathways and parity with other qualifications that apprenticeships
offer. One of the first young people in Wales to be accepted on to the Deloitte
apprenticeship, Rob has gone on to be recruited to its BrightStart Higher
Apprenticeship which allows talented young people to jump straight into the
world of professional services.
Rob was chosen for the Role Model
Award for his dedication and positivity towards his apprenticeship.
Rob
said: “It’s been absolutely great, having attended the College almost
two years ago now, doing my apprenticeship with Deloitte and progressing onto a
Higher Apprenticeship. It’s been a fantastic evening to celebrate with other
apprentices from other companies that maybe you wouldn’t normally get to meet.
The networking and events are just as great as the practical qualifications.
“Andrew Whitcombe, CAVC’s Dean of Work Based Learning, has been
fundamental in my success here. Lisa Styling and Hayley Carpenter have both
supported me throughout my apprenticeship. The management team at the College
particularly the Principal, Kay Martin, have been very supportive of us
individually and of Deloitte as a firm bringing this new apprenticeship into
the city.
“A very proud moment, I won the CAVC apprenticeship award last year and
it’s nice to still be recognised a year on and now actually help other
apprentices who are studying towards what I’ve already achieved. It’s great to
still be a part of the College and be part of that Alumni.”
A Special Recognition Award went to
Shauna Holmes. A stand-out student at CAVC’s International Centre for Aerospace
Training (ICAT), Shauna always assists her peers and used her spare time to
volunteer for Rolls Royce and as a result has been offered an unconditional
place on an Advanced Apprenticeship with them.
A beacon in a traditionally
male-dominated industry, Shauna received the Special Recognition Award for
achieving an unconditional offer of an Advanced Apprenticeship with one of the
world’s leading engineering firms.
Shauna
said: “We only found out recently that I was going to be an apprentice
at Rolls Royce and I wasn’t told I was going to be nominated for any award. I
just had an email one day that said ‘You have won an award’ and I thought ‘Oh
my God!’ I was completely shocked.
“The apprenticeship is an Advanced Practical Apprenticeship based in
Bristol. They do all the engines manufacture for defence engines. I will be
working on the line and helping rebuild and strip the engines. It’s amazing.
“I would like to thank my tutor, Chris Pilcher. When I came to the
College I had an idea of the company I wanted to work for. Chris was determined
to change that and widen my horizons and he completely did that, bless him! I’m
so thankful to him because without him as a teacher I wouldn’t even have
thought of Rolls Royce in the first place so I wouldn’t be here now.
“It’s amazing. My family are so chuffed for me and so proud. It’s so
nice to even feel that - it’s fab. I’m so happy!”
Retiring JGR Training Manager Tish
Walters also received a Special Recognition Award to celebrate a long and
fruitful career in which her passion for and dedication to work based learning
has been unstinting. Cardiff and Vale College Apprenticeships Quality and Data
Team Leader Maureen Bielski received the Work Based Learning Practitioner Award
in recognition of her exemplary support to apprentices and colleagues.
Employers were also celebrated for
their commitment to apprentices. CLEARTECH live won the award for small
employer, while the award for medium employer went to ITV Cymru Wales and
Cardiff Council won for large employer.
Lloyds Banking Group won the New
Employer Award. One of CAVC’s largest partner organisations, the College has
recently started recruiting and delivering Lloyds’ apprenticeship programme in
what looks to be a continuing partnership.
A special new Innovation and Partnership
Award was won by Aston Martin, Cardiff and Vale College’s latest work based
learning partner. The College is developing a new strand of apprenticeships
with the luxury car manufacturer to develop its Welsh work based learning
programme at its new St Athan facility.
Hazel
Martin, Director of HR at Aston Martin, said: “It’s a great pleasure to
receive this award on behalf of Aston Martin. Over the last two years we’ve
built a really strong partnership with Cardiff and Vale College.
“We’re really looking forward now to working together to create a
tailored apprenticeship programme for the future, for Aston Martin, in St Athan
and it’s a really exciting time for us now and we’re really looking forward to
it. Now we start looking forward now to 2019, 2020 where we will be recruiting
apprentices for the future and this is the vision, to just have really great
young talent that we will bring together now to help us make St Athan a
success.”
CAVC
Principal and QSA Chair Kay Martin said: “It really has been a pleasure
to celebrate the achievements of each and every winner at the QSA Annual
Awards. As a consortium we know apprenticeships work and by developing
opportunities for apprenticeships we can have a huge impact on individuals,
employers, communities and the economy.”
The awards had been generously
supported by sponsorship from Focus Training, NDGTA, JTL and Safe and Secure
Training. QSA apprenticeships are funded by the Welsh Government with support
from the European Social Fund.
Award Winner
|
Employer/Nominator
|
Award
|
Henry Deane
|
Davies Motor Company/CAVCA
|
Automotive - Body
|
Brett Skyrme
|
Edwards Coaches/CAVCA
|
Automotive - Heavy vehicle
|
Lewis Williams
|
CEM Day/Skillnet
|
Automotive - Light Vehicle
|
Caitlin Perry
|
National Assembly for Wales/JGR
Training
|
Business and Financial Services
|
Joe Price
|
IS Construction/CAVCA
|
Construction
|
Laura Thorne
|
BBC Cymru Wales/Sgil Cymru
|
Creative Industries
|
Thomas Watkins
|
White Hart Multimedia/Sgil Cymru
|
Creative Industries
|
Jack Germain
|
Centregreat/JTL
|
Electrotechnical
|
Ellis Russell
|
Burton's Biscuits/NDGTA
|
Engineering
|
Ria Jones
|
Elfed Avenue Playgroup/CAVCA
|
Health and Social Care
|
Matthew Hewer
|
B2B IT Services/CAVC risual Academy
|
ICT
|
Danielle Hartley-Smith
|
The AA/Focus On
|
Insurance Services
|
Adele Bristow
|
Pen-y-Bont Nursing Home/JGR
Training
|
Management
|
Ethan Park
|
Park Plumbing/CAVCA
|
Plumbing
|
Rod Charity
|
Tesco/CAVCA
|
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
|
Michael Thomas
|
Cardiff Council/Safe and Secure
Training
|
Sustainable Resource Management
|
Tibor Cervenak
|
CAVC/CAVC
|
Junior Apprentice
|
Joshua Crew
|
BAMCE
|
Higher Apprenticeship
|
Robert Young
|
Deloitte
|
Role Model
|
Maureen Bielski
|
CAVCA
|
Work Based Learning Practitioner
|
Shauna Holmes
|
Rolls Royce/CAVC
|
Special Recognition
|
Tish Walters
|
JGR Training
|
Special Recognition
|
CLEARTech Live
|
|
Small Employer of the Year
|
ITV Cymru Wales
|
|
Medium Employer of the Year
|
Cardiff Council
|
|
Large Employer of the Year
|
Lloyds Banking group
|
|
New Employer of the Year
|
Aston Martin
|
|
Innovation and Partnership
|
Clive Fleming
|
|
Outstanding Contribution
|
Neil Purslow
|
|
Outstanding Contribution
|
Caitlin Perry
|
|
QSA Apprentice of the Year
|