The Royal receives regional Apprenticeship Award
The Royal prides itself on ‘growing our own’ workforce through the use of apprentices and apprenticeships, which is why they’re delighted to have been named as the Large Employer of the Year at this year’s North Midlands and South Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards.
Presented by the winner of the BBC’s Young Apprentice series, Ashley Porter-Exley, the awards celebrate and recognise the hardworking individuals and organisations involved in apprenticeships.
As a relatively small hospital in the large area covered by the awards, the Trust was the only hospital to have made the shortlist at the ceremony, and fought off competition from regional and national organisations to seal the award.
Sarah Sewell, the Royal’s Inter-Professional Development Lead, picked up the award at a ceremony, held at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield on Tuesday the 15th of May.
She said:-
“We were in good company with the other organisations nominated and awarded at the event. With several colleges and a range of other businesses, including the likes of Specsavers, at the event, winning the award for best Large Employer helps to boost our credibility in the region.
“The award will take pride of place at the Education Centre reception, the main source of learning and support at the hospital. It shows that we are a champion for apprenticeships and apprentices and it will have a big impact on teaching staff about the importance of them to the Trust. More importantly it puts CRH on people’s radar.”
Marking the first award for the Apprenticeships team at the hospital, The Trust has Carrie Marples, the Apprenticeship Programme Coordinator/Secretary, to thank for being nominated.
Carrie submitted a seven page document to apply for the award, featuring case studies and outlining all the hard work and achievements by apprentices at the hospital and why CRH deserved to be named the winner.
“I saw the awards advertised on the Derbyshire Times Facebook page and thought it would be worth submitting an application for it. It took me three weeks to get the submission sent off, but it was worth it in the end, and all the feedback has been really positive. This is the direction we want to take apprenticeships at The Royal, but I didn’t expect us to win it. It’s the first one we’ve put ourselves forward for. It gives us something to shout about.
“Apprenticeships are often seen as a negative and there’s a perception they’re just for school leavers, but apprentices are in almost in every department in the hospital and they have an impact on all staff.
“Winning this award is a great recognition of the fantastic work our apprentices do and shows staff that there are opportunities to upskill through the many programmes we have.
“We have a lot of programmes and opportunities running. This award will help attract new talent and raise awareness of what we have to offer. It’s a brilliant award for the hospital to win and gain good exposure.
“We’re very much in favour of pushing on and applying for more awards in the future. It also helps to build our reputation in the area and attract those looking to gain further qualifications.”
Apprenticeships in Chesterfield are an excellent way of gaining qualifications whilst getting real life work experience and being paid for it – what better place to become an apprentice or find an apprentice than the UK’s first Apprentice Town.
There are currently more than 4,000 people currently participating in apprenticeships in Chesterfield.
