Nottingham City Council is celebrating the city’s great apprentices next week for National Apprenticeship Week.
The council is supporting the tenth annual National Apprenticeship Week, which runs 6-10 March 2017, celebrating apprenticeships and the positive impact they have on individuals and businesses.
To celebrate the week, Nottingham City Council and key local organisations which work together as part of the Nottingham Jobs initiative want to encourage even local more people to apply to become apprentices.
Nottingham has been at the forefront of the national focus on apprenticeships over the last decade. Nottingham Jobs – a joint initiative between the council, Futures, Advice and Skills and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) – works with local employers to create vacancies and get local people into opportunities arounds the city – including 915 people into apprenticeships over the last year.
Apprenticeships combine on-the-job experience with quality training and the chance to earn a wage. For many young people, they’re a great alternative to going to university and ending up with tens of thousands of £s of debt. For people of all ages, apprenticeships are an ideal way to get into or try out a new career.
Nottingham City Council as an employer runs a well-established, nationally recognised and multiple award-winning in-house apprenticeship scheme, plus Nottingham Jobs works in partnership with over 30 local training providers to deliver varied, high quality Apprenticeships across Nottingham. As an employer the council is committed to creating 250 new apprenticeships in the 2016/17 financial year. 340 people applied for the first batch of 50 vacancies for apprenticeships in business administration, highways and HGV mechanics among others.
Twenty-four year-old Garrick Leslie from Clifton began work as a Digital Media Apprentice at Nottingham City Council in 2014. His apprenticeship gave him hands on experience working on the council’s websites and social media platforms. He has since secured a full-time role as a Digital Marketing Assistant, who is in charge of the My Nottingham social media accounts, and creating evaluation reports.
Speaking about his apprenticeship, Garrick said: “Doing an apprenticeship with the council was amazing for me – I learned so much.
“It’s great to learn on the job and my manager, the team around me and all the support I received as an apprentice really helped me to get my permanent job working in digital at the council. The apprenticeship really helped me to kick start my career and I would definitely encourage others to apply to become an apprentice as well.”
Garrick isn’t the first, with around 82% of past apprentices at the council going onto some form of permanent employment within the council.
Councillor Sam Webster, Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills, said: “As a council we are a large employer and we need to lead by example to promote apprenticeships to other business, organisations and residents. We currently have 127 apprentices and trainees in the council and we are looking to recruit more.
“It’s been amazing to see the success that Nottingham Jobs has had in helping to get people into apprentices, plus the council has created over 300 apprenticeships over the last five years, with a target of creating 100 more just this year. We have strong support from local businesses and the new apprenticeship levy will help create even more of these roles for people in the city.
“Investing in taking on an apprentice is an achievement to be proud of and if you haven’t already taken the plunge, National Apprenticeship Week is an excellent time to consider and find out more.”
The way the government funds apprenticeships in England is changing. Some employers will be required to contribute to a new apprenticeship levy, and there will be changes to the funding for apprenticeship training for all employers. It comes into effect in April and means that more apprenticeships will be created in local businesses, but it also means that people of all ages and qualifications could now apply for one. The purpose of the levy is to encourage employers to invest in apprenticeship programmes and to raise additional funds to improve the quality and quantity of apprenticeships.
For more information on finding work, training or an apprenticeship visit – www.nottinghamjobs.com