South Tyneside Homes
South Tyneside Homes, a management organisation created by South Tyneside Council, looks after around 19,000 homes in the borough. To help service the needs of its tenants and leaseholders, the organisation regularly recruits apprentices across four main trade areas: plastering, electrical work, plumbing and joinery.
The Apprenticeship programme is helping South Tyneside Homes to meet both its current workload and its future demands. In particular, this includes major improvements to council homes within South Tyneside to bring them up to the Government’s ‘Decent Homes Standard’ by 2013.
Gary Kirsop, Head of Property Services, South Tyneside Homes, explains: “Having the right number of staff in the right areas enables us to keep track of the demanding schedule of work associated with the Decent Homes programme. It also means we can maintain a strong customer focus, ensuring the resources are in place to be able to respond to demands for ongoing repair work.
Gillian Jenkins, Human Resources and Organisational Development advisor, South Tyneside Homes, adds: “The Apprenticeship programme helps lay solid foundations and has a positive impact on our customer satisfaction levels.
“Because of the structure of the Apprenticeship programme, and the hands-on approach to gaining skills, each of our apprentices understands who their customers are and how to deliver a 1st rate service to them.
“This is backed by our overall levels of customer satisfaction, which are consistently high and improving year on year,” she continued.
One particular apprentice who is making a positive impression is 20 year old Scott Gray from Hebburn. Scott is taking an Advanced Apprenticeship in Wood Occupations after discovering a love of woodwork a few years ago.
“Before becoming an apprentice at South Tyneside Homes, I was introduced to woodworking whilst still at school. This was one of the major factors which helped me to choose a career in joinery.
“I started my Apprenticeship here two years ago and I’ve absolutely no regrets. As well as my day-to-day learning, I also go to college every few months for a two or three week block.
“As part of my job I mainly work on improving people’s homes, which is really satisfying whether I’m fitting a new kitchen or a new bathroom. Fitting a kitchen on my own has been my biggest learning challenge so far, but I did it and it gave me a real confidence boost. I just thought about the way I’d been taught to deal with things and it all went to plan in the end.
“I would recommend an Apprenticeship to other people as it’s the best way to continue learning and kick start your career. If you jump straight into a full time job without training, you might not have anything to fall back on. As well as gaining national qualifications, the support you get through an Apprenticeship is exceptional,” continued Scott.
In recognition of his good work, Scott recently became a runner-up at the 2009 Association Public Service Excellence (APSE) local authority apprentice and trainee awards.
In a bid to drive forward the Government's ambition for Apprenticeships, the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) was launched in April 2009. The NAS has total responsibility for the delivery of Apprenticeships including advising employers, engaging with learner organisations, providing funding for Apprenticeship training and a web based Apprenticeship vacancies system.
It is evident that South Tyneside Homes sees Apprenticeships as a real investment in the future of its organisation.
“Over time we have developed a good package for our apprentices. They get good levels of pay and we have strong support mechanisms in place including a sound partnership with the Council’s Adult and Community Learning team which supports the apprentices’ education and training,” said Gillian.
“We also have a mentoring ‘buddy’ system and Apprenticeship champions which contributes to job satisfaction and also increases aspirations. In fact, many of our apprentices express a desire to become supervisors, mentors and surveyors with South Tyneside Homes in the future,” she continued.
Last Updated: 23/05/2012