It's day two of National Apprenticeship Week and today we're featuring two apprentices who have done their Gold DofE through the British Gas apprenticeship programme.
Rebecca
Former British Gas apprentice Rebecca Clancy joined the company in 2007 and was among the very first group of apprentices to do her Duke of Edinburgh’s Award as part of her training. She felt the impact of the DofE from day one, as they began their apprenticeship with the Residential section of her DofE programme.
“It was a great way of getting to know each other; we really gelled as a group right from the start.
Spending all that time together meant we saw different sides of each other; it brought people out of their shells and helped us communicate with each other.
The team-building tasks meant we worked really well together from the beginning. We could really rely on each other.”
Since 2007 British Gas has put all its apprentices through the DofE. Rebecca has a lot of respect for the company, and believes British Gas really invests in its apprentices to give them the best start in their career.
“I’m really glad I did it – I loved it and I feel a big sense of achievement. But even the ones that don’t love it feel they’ve achieved something, it gives them good stories to tell and great memories. When they come back from the expedition, they want to tell you what they have done.”
Rebecca believes the different sections develop essential work skills, and turn young people into responsible, mature adults.
"The Volunteering section gives young people their first taste of work. For the very first time in their lives they have to turn up, and take some responsibility. They realise the responsibility they have and it builds their confidence, their ability to communicate with other people, and it makes them proud.
“Lots of trainees continue to do more charity work once they’ve finished their apprenticeship and their DofE. We do quite a lot of charity work in India, and having done volunteering before, they feel confident to go abroad, and often with a group of people they don’t know and represent our company. They put their own time and effort into raising money.
“The expedition encourages them to put their skills together. They have to look after themselves and everyone else. It makes them grow up and turns them into adults. The change is amazing.”
Having first-hand experience of the DofE allows Rebecca to guide apprentices through their programmes in her role as Learning and Development Manager for British Gas. She’s able to show them she knows what they are going through.
“I would recommend anyone in any job to do the DofE. It really helped us through our apprenticeship.”
Sarah
Sarah Mcleod is currently working as an Engineer for British Gas and she's no stranger to the DofE. She first got involved in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards at school in Northumberland. The experience opened her eyes to the world and taught her how to look after herself, engendering a love of travel and adventure.
From school, Sarah followed an academic path, studying international politics at university and going on to work at the Ministry of Defence. But her success didn’t make her happy.
More than anything, Sarah wanted to learn a trade, something that would give her the chance to work independently, possibly even enable her to work anywhere in the world.
Finally Sarah made the leap and left the civil service to retrain as a plumber.
“Many girls wouldn’t even think about learning a trade. Anyone that’s bright is encouraged to go to university, but this is much more interesting than office work. Girls aren’t encouraged to go into trades or industries like construction, especially at school.”
At British Gas, Sarah found herself doing her Gold DofE Award as part of her British Gas apprenticeship.
Through British Gas, the DofE was quite a different experience. Sarah’s highlight was volunteering at a youth centre where she played sport and games with disadvantaged young people.
But the DofE at work also gave her the chance to develop her business skills including team-working, customer service and presentations.
“The DofE has helped me to develop the skills I need for life. When I was younger, the DofE gave me confidence, independence, and developed my sense of adventure. Now it has given me the skills I need to change careers and retrain.”
Tomorrow we will hear how apprentices from DofE Gold Partner Amey are doing their Gold DofE as part of the programme.
For more information on National Apprenticeship Week go to www.apprenticeships.org.uk