Success Stories
The Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon has recently recruited four new apprentices to join their craft workshops and help building sets and props.
Chris Simmons, Paul Riddle, Will Fagan and Sam Reynolds have just begun their full time three year Apprenticeships. They are learning ‘on the job' and will also attend external training courses one day a week at Warwickshire College to gain nationally recognised Apprenticeships in Furniture (props) and Carpentry (scenic set construction). RSC’s Executive Director Vikki Heywood said: "It's great to welcome Chris, Paul, Will and Sam to the RSC. It's a win-win situation for us: we get to benefit from the skills they will develop here, and the apprentices get to start their careers working with our highly talented craftspeople.”
Apprenticeship vacancies full thrust ahead.
We’ve had some record weeks on the Apprenticeship vacancies online system with over 5000 live vacancies on the site each month. This week there has been a massive boost in IT vacancies with Microsoft posting 1700 nationwide opportunities.
The Olympic Delivery Authority last month opened up its Apprentice Hub, providing guidance, career support, courses, IT and study space for all apprentices working on the site.
The hub will also help ensure that apprentices are able to continue their training or employment on future projects once they have completed their work on the Olympic park. Over 120 apprentices are currently working on the Olympic park and they will make up 3% of the total workforce.
175 new ‘Green apprentice’ opportunities were announced by Communities Secretary John Denham to get parks and gardens growing in some of the country's most deprived areas.
Councils will be inviting budding horticulturists to apply for green Apprenticeships, and young people develop new 'green' skills that will lead to future full time employment. Councils will be looking for people who can prove their gardening prowess and follow in the footsteps of one former green apprentice, Alan Titchmarsh who says, "As a former green apprentice myself I believe the practical skills provided by these Apprenticeships are just as important as university degrees. This country needs a new generation of gardeners and I'm delighted more budding horticulturists will soon be able to sign up to this popular scheme."
Apprenticeship vacancies online system is supported by… apprentices!
The Cap Gemini IT helpdesk, which helps the National Apprenticeship Service to deliver the Apprenticeship vacancies online job service, is also an employer actively involved in supporting apprenticeships. More than 20 apprentices have recently been recruited to the scheme, as last years cohort has now graduated from Telford College.