Published: Monday, 8th February 2021
Apprentices who work at the borough council are being celebrated through an online campaign to mark National Apprenticeship week, 8 to 14 February 2021.
The council has run a successful apprenticeship scheme for 9 years, supporting employees by offering a broad spectrum of apprenticeships across a variety of fields.
Elle Carroll, who is studying a Level 4 Revenues and Welfare Benefits Practitioner course, says: “The most rewarding part of my apprenticeship is that I was able to carry on working during the pandemic and help out the local community. I believe doing an apprenticeship is a great way to learn on the job and I didn’t want to go to University. I believe it has put me on the right path for the future.”
Sophie Nicholls, who studied for a Level 3 Team Leader/Supervisor Apprenticeship, adds: "Having been out of education for over 10 years and working full time, I didn’t think returning to education was ever going to be an option. My apprenticeship showed me that it’s never too late to gain more qualifications or learn new skills.”
Cllr Brian Long, Leader of the Borough Council of King’s Lynn & West Norfolk, said: “As a council we really feel that the apprenticeship scheme is worthy of our support. We encourage lifelong learning and an apprenticeship scheme is an excellent way of achieving career progression for individuals and an improved workforce for the council.”
Lorraine Gore, Chief Executive of the borough council, added: “The borough council has supported apprenticeship schemes for many years. The council-run apprenticeships provide opportunities for individuals to access training for qualifications and develop relevant work-based skills across a wide range of the council’s activities. Apprenticeships are an extremely good route to achieve personal development for the individual and provides the organisation with trained and highly motivated staff and also means they can give back more to the organisation.”
“Because of our positive experience we would encourage other local businesses to consider developing their own apprenticeship scheme”
This is part of the campaign that has been run by the East of England Local Government Association since 2017.