Member Article

Young Teesside apprentice celebrating a busy National Apprenticeship Week

North Star Housing Group is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week and its commitment to provide experience and job opportunities for young people across the region, with a special video scrapbook from star apprentice Katie Kelly.

The social housing provider, with offices in Stockton-On-Tees and Barnard Castle, has employed several apprentices on its schemes over the past twelve months. And North Star plans to take on more apprentices over the coming year.

19-year-old Katie joined North Star in July and is training as a Business Administrator in Technical Services. Katie said: “I am very grateful that I have been given the opportunity to work as an apprentice at North Star Housing Group. It has been an invaluable experience and had made me a better person and a lot more independent. Every day I am learning valuable skills that I will use for the rest of my life.

“If I didn’t have this experience I would still be struggling to find work. Working as an apprentice has given me experience with businesses that I may not have even considered before. The people are really lovely and so are the other apprentices I’ve met.”

Angela Lockwood, Group Chief Executive of North Star Housing Group, said: “With such high levels of unemployment amongst young people, we are delighted to be able to offer apprenticeship schemes to support young people in our communities.

“Apprenticeships benefit apprentices and the company. In exchange for offering a great opportunity to learn key skills, we get fantastic, enthusiastic and hard working young people to join our team.

“Apprenticeship schemes play a vital role in providing employment opportunities and helping the region to develop a world class skills base.”

Katie’s busy National Apprenticeship Week started with a special trip to London to attend a reception at the House of Commons with Phil Wilson MP. Katie and her fellow apprentices and colleagues were also treated to a tour of Parliament and sat in on a live debate which was being filmed live for BBC Parliament.

The reception also included an inspirational speech from David Orr, CEO of the National Housing Federation, about the benefits of apprenticeships and the exceptional work of the visiting group in organising their National Apprenticeship Week events.

Katie said: “It was a very exciting experience. I’ve never visited London before, so we finished our trip with a sightseeing tour, which included Big Ben, the London Eye, MI6 building, Buckingham Palace and a tour of Mayfair.”

Alongside her role at North Star, Katie has been working with ACE, a group of apprentices from eight North East-based Housing Associations working in partnership.

Katie said: “It’s important to me to be able to help other young people get into apprenticeships. I think they are the best way in to work at the moment. An apprenticeship can help you grow as a person and also build your confidence. “

Katie has been rounding off the week on Friday at the Apprentice Celebration Event at Ramside Hall in Durham, where she had the chance to meet with young people from the North East who are considering applying for an apprenticeship.

She said: “If I could give a piece of advice to future apprentices it would be: go for it! It takes you higher places. You can move up, up and up!”

For more information about the apprenticeship event at Ramside Hall, contact katie.kelly@northstarhg.co.uk or rebecca.cohen@neprocurement.com

To watch Katie’s National Apprenticeship Week video, visit: www.youtube.com/northstarhg

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by North Star Housing Group .