Apprentices honoured at NCC Awards

The National Construction College has honoured its top construction apprentices at its annual graduation ceremony with nearly 300 apprentices receiving their framework achievements.

16 apprentices were presented with awards on the day in recognition of the hard work, skill and determination they have demonstrated whilst working in their field over the past year.

The ceremony, which took place at the College's campus in Bircham Newton, Norfolk, was attended by more than 450 people including key figures from industry such as ConstructionSkills Deputy Chairman, Peter Rogerson and NCC Director Andy Walder in addition to the Mayor and Mayoress of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, Michael and Gillian Pitcher.

The National Construction College (NCC) awards, which are sponsored by Construction Site Solutions, are an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of those students who have done extremely well in their field, and act as a marker for other students to work towards, in addition to being something that employers can be proud of.

The ceremony was opened by ConstructionSkills Deputy Chairman, Peter Rogerson, who welcomed guests and paid tribute to the apprentices and college staff for their hard work and determination over the past year.

Guest speaker at the ceremony was adventurer and former Royal Marine, Monty Halls, who spoke to the students and their guests about his expeditions and experiences, and how team-building skills, along with passion and enthusiasm can help you achieve your goals.

The College is the training division of ConstructionSkills and is the largest construction training provider in Europe.

NCC East is one of seven College campuses across the UK, which together provide training to around 30,000 adults and apprentices each year.

Director of the National Construction College, Andy Walder, said: "These young people should be extremely proud of what they have achieved over the past year as we certainly are.

It is important to acknowledge the contribution these young people are making as they will make up the future generations of construction industry workers so it's great to know that they are setting off on a good footing.

Although the industry is facing challenging times this year, the long term forecast looks encouraging with output expected to pick up by 2011 according to the latest figures from the Construction Skills Network report.

"The past year has seen the College achieve the Training Quality Standard for our work delivering training solutions to employers to meet industry needs.

We have also seen significant growth with many new training courses being established, and in response to demand we have opened new facilities in the past year in Scotland, as well as in East London.

Customer satisfaction scores are at an all time high and this has been testament to the hard work and high standards maintained by our staff who have also helped the students reach their achievements which we are celebrating today".

Craig Woodhall, who is employed as an apprentice by Finest Scaffolding and Access , achieved the top accolade at the ceremony - Apprentice of the Year.

Simon Atherton, a spokesperson for Construction Site Solutions, the sponsor for this year's NCC award ceremonies said: "We are delighted to be supporting the College's award ceremonies and recognising the efforts and high quality work of these young apprentices, particularly in the current climate".

A special thanks also went to all the apprentices friends and family for supporting them through their training and celebrating their achievements with them.

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