As part of National Apprenticeships Week (4-8 March), Flagship Group are celebrating their first Apprenticeship Ambassadors in trade.
Electrician Charlotte Savage and Plasterer Tayla-Jayne Johnson have now completed their apprenticeships with Flagship’s in-house repairs and maintenance company – RFT Services, becoming the only females in those roles at RFT.
Charlotte and Tayla recently joined the Norfolk Young Ambassador Apprentice Network (YAAN) to help pass on their knowledge of what it is like to undertake an apprenticeship and promote it as a positive career choice.
Tayla, who is 23 from Bradwell in Norfolk said: “I would definitely encourage others to take on an apprenticeship as you gain hands on experience and knowledge of the job role but also you gain a qualification at the same time. This means that you get a better understanding of the work entailed and will help you progress further.
“The most enjoyable aspect of being a young ambassador is meeting new people and knowing that I’m passing on my knowledge and experiences of apprenticeships to help others.
“I would recommend this to other apprentices as it opens you up to a community of people that you wouldn’t necessarily meet at any other time who are doing an apprenticeship but are from different jobs.”
Charlotte, who is 20 and from Norwich said: “So far I’ve really enjoyed meeting the other people on the training day (as part of YAAN) who do apprenticeships in so many different fields and hearing their apprenticeship story.
“I really believe that apprenticeships are the future. You can earn whilst you get a qualification and also you get the experience that employers look for.”
Head of Learning & Development at Flagship, Nadine Tapp, said: “We are passionate about growing our own talent which is why we invest in our Apprenticeship Programme. We are proud to have offered so many opportunities across our business areas to individuals to learn and develop.”
Flagship Bright Futures apprentices Matt Levesley, 19, and Ellie Colk, 20, both from Norwich, are also Young Apprenticeship Ambassadors. They started their Housing Policy and Practice Apprenticeship in 2017 and will complete the course in 2020. At that time, both will have gained a degree and have permanent employment with Flagship.
Flagship Group has recruited 44 apprentices to date through its Apprenticeship Programme with 28 people currently on apprenticeship programmes.