Member Article

Apprentices Excel at ACE Event

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week a team of apprentices organised an ACE (Apprenticeship Celebration Event) exhibition and conference at the Ramside Hall, Durham, to showcase their experiences and the value apprentices can offer to organisations.

The ACE event was completely organised by the apprentices themselves who come from organisations throughout the North East including Gentoo, Livin, home group, Coast & Country, Bernicia, Derwentside Homes, North Star Housing Group, and Homes for Northumberland.

During the event, sponsored by NE Procurement and the National Housing Federation, organisations had the chance to exhibit their apprenticeship offers to schools and hear the inspiring stories from people who have previously taken part in apprenticeship programs.

Ashleigh Hudson, from Sunderland, spoke at the event about her apprenticeship at Gentoo. The 23 year old said: “My apprenticeship has totally changed my life. I was thrilled to be part of this year’s ACE event because I want to inspire people to take on an apprenticeship and show employers that people just need a chance and will excel if given the right support.”

National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr said: “The ACE Event 2014 is the perfect way to round off National Apprenticeship Week which has done a great job of promoting the value of apprenticeships as an alternative to university.

“It’s been a privilege to meet these young apprentices today who’ve been working within housing organisations, and see how their hard work has come together to produce this brilliant careers exhibition and conference. They should all be extremely proud.

“Housing associations are perfectly placed to offer young people the chance to learn and gain new skills through employment. They are already working with thousands of young people as part of a joint pledge with the National Apprenticeship Service to support 10,000 new apprenticeships in the sector by the end of 2015, and are now 75% of the way towards achieving this ambitious target.”

Peter Walls, chief executive, Gentoo Group said: “Organising the ACE Event has been an invaluable experience for all the apprentices involved. They are learning vital skills for their future.

“Through apprenticeships, young people are being given the opportunity to realise their ambitions, improve their prospects and see what careers are available to them. We look forward to see what the future has in store.”

Gentoo Group’s whole ethos is about believing nothing is impossible and finding new ways to challenge conventions, Gentoo aims to make society a better place to live and to make a real difference to the way people live their life. To find out more about Gentoo, visit gentoogroup.com for more information or follow @gentoogroup on Twitter.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Laura Facey .