Shining a light on apprentices in Mansfield

The Government-backed campaign runs from February 7 to 13, to promote the benefits of apprenticeships to both employees and employers.

The council currently has seven apprentices on its payroll including Stacey Tebbett, from Mansfield Woodhouse, who works in the Law and Governance department as a Trainee Auditor and combines her office job with studying for a Higher level apprenticeship qualification.

She said: "This apprenticeship has given me the opportunity to learn something new, with a guaranteed job at the end - all done during working hours and funded by my employer.

"I think the words 'apprentice' and 'apprenticeship' are often misunderstood. Many people may think it refers to someone straight from school and on very low wage.

"This couldn’t be any further from the truth. An apprenticeship is available to anyone of any age who wants to learn and succeed. I am 28, with lots of previous work experience and I have a competitive salary.

"The support that I have received from my training provider is great, equally the support internally from the council has been fantastic with opportunities to shadow in meetings, audits and testing to give me knowledge and confidence to build on my own skills.”

For another council trainee, Josh Peck, 24, from Warsop, his apprenticeship path started in one area - customer service - and took him to another: the ICT department where he is now studying for a degree in Data Analytics.

He started looking at the apprenticeship route a year into doing his A-levels, as an alternative to studying at university.

He said: "I had friends who were doing apprenticeships locally and they were enjoying them and had money to spend.

"Everyone should consider an apprenticeship as a valuable route to achieving their career aspirations.

"The whole experience has been excellent and the support has been brilliant in all the departments I have worked in.”

Coun Stuart Richardson, portfolio holder for Regeneration and Growth, said: "The council is very keen to see local businesses invest in their workforce and offering them the chance to upskill as part of our Aspiration priorities."

There is more information about apprenticeships at www.mansfield.gov.uk/NAW.