Council continues its support for apprentices during National Apprenticeship Week

Ceredigion County Council is supporting National Apprenticeship Week by shining a light on the contribution of its many apprentices. The annual week-long celebration runs until 14 February and highlights how apprenticeships help individuals develop a rewarding career and enables employers to build a workforce with future-ready skills.

Since April 2018, Ceredigion Council has used the apprenticeship levy to up-skill existing staff, as well as employing several new apprentices through vacancies in areas such as youth services, health and social care, business administration, highways maintenance and ICT.

Debbie Ayriss, Learning and Development Manager, said: “I am very proud of the contribution our apprentices have made over the last 12 months. Their commitment to strengthen their skills and knowledge during these unprecedented times is a fantastic achievement in what has been a very difficult year for everyone. Our apprentices have been welcomed into ‘Team Ceredigion’ and continue to contribute to our efforts in sustaining service delivery.”

Some of the council’s apprenticeship success stories of the past year include Gareth John, who secured a permanent Youth Worker post after joining the authority in 2018 as an apprentice. Gareth said: “I would advise anyone to do an apprenticeship, it’s a great experience. Working as a Youth Worker during COVID-19 has been tough but we have been supporting young people through welfare calls and visits and getting young people engaged with our service through our social media pages, giving them the support and encouragement they need to get through this tough time. After going through the apprenticeship and securing a full time job within the youth service it made me realise how lucky I was to have the opportunity to become an apprentice.”

Elli Rees joined the council in 2018 and started her Apprentice Care Assistant role a few months before the pandemic. Elli said: “I am an Apprentice Care Assistant based at Hafan Deg. I was lucky enough to have completed a lot of training before the pandemic and I am proud to have continued my apprenticeship qualification online and carried on developing in my day-to-day role. The residential care home environment has of course changed a lot over the last 12 months and I have been well supported by colleagues and able to help out with the use of technology, helping residents keep in touch with relatives.”

Councillor Ray Quant MBE, Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet Member for People and Organisation, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has brought many challenges to Ceredigion. It has hit many employers hard and has also been extremely challenging for many of our young people. National Apprenticeship Week gives us the opportunity to celebrate the many achievements of apprentices both at Ceredigion County Council and throughout the county.”

Apprenticeships are available at a range of subjects and levels, ranging from level two (equivalent to GCSEs) to level seven (masters level qualifications) and offer people of all ages and backgrounds a pathway into a career.

To find out more about the apprenticeships at the council, follow @CeredigionJobs at https://www.facebook.com/CeredigionJobs/ or visit our careers website at https://careers.ceredigion.gov.uk. To find out more about national apprenticeships visit https://careerswales.gov.wales/apprenticeships