APPRENTICES at WCG recently had cause to celebrate.
They graduated from across a wide range of sectors ranging from engineering to early years. The event at Warwick Racecourse marked the seventh apprenticeship graduation hosted by the college group – formerly Warwickshire College Group – which trains more than 2,500 apprentices each year from over 1,100 employers.
WCG CEO Angela Joyce addressed the apprentices before handing out the official graduation scrolls.
Two outstanding apprentices were selected on the evening – highlighted for their high level of performance during the course of their apprenticeships.
Lucinda Bull, from Kenilworth, was named Outstanding Apprentice for Engineering, for completing her engineering apprenticeship with Jaguar Land Rover.
And Chloe Dhaliwal, of Purple Playhouse Nursery in Leamington, received the Outstanding Apprentice for Service Industries award for work in her early years apprenticeship.
Ms Joyce said: “We are very proud of all our apprentices and it was a fantastic evening to celebrate their success.
“At WCG we work with a wide range of employers across a vast number of industries, and it was wonderful to welcome our apprentices’ employers on the night, too.
“Apprenticeships are a crucial way of bringing new highly skilled talent into the workforce, and we are proud to be the region’s largest College apprenticeship provider.
“We formally celebrate success at every level at WCG and we wish all our graduating apprentices the best of luck in their future careers.”
Among the apprentices was Issac Alun-Jones from Stratford who completed a joinery apprenticeship with Avon Boating.
The 29-year-old said: “I’m a little bit older than your average apprentice and I wanted to be able to work whilst learning practical skills and gaining a qualification. This was a great way to do it.
“I worked on the ferry in Stratford when I was a teenager and that’s where I first got interested in the boats. I went on to work at the boathouse most summers and joinery is a good way of getting into what is quite a niche industry.
“You get some much more than just learning knowledge in an apprenticeship. I really valued what I learned at college and by doing it every day at work I was much more accomplished in my trade.”
Visit www.wcg.ac.uk for more information on the college group.
