A Myerscough College apprentice has been recognised as among the best in the country for her outstanding work on a national level.
Construction Plant Apprentice Katie Long was honoured at the 2016 Women In Construction Awards which took place in Manchester last month. Katie was named as Best Apprentice of the Year in the under 25’s category.
20-year-old Katie works for UK Forks in Exeter, which is part of Vp Plc and is studying for a three-year apprenticeship delivered by Myerscough College, based in Preston Lancashire, in partnership with CITB.
The programme that Katie is enrolled on involves periods of block release training at the College’s new £5.5m Engineering Centre at the main campus in Bilsborrow, near Preston. Katie is initially studying at Level 2 and will then progress onto the Advanced Level 3 programme in the final year where she will complete her Apprenticeship in the summer of 2017.
Katie explains her reasons for choosing to apply for the apprenticeship: ‘’I completed a short engineering course whilst at school. For me an Apprenticeship is a fantastic way to earn, learn and pave a career path within the industry.
‘’In the future, after I qualify, I would like to gain permanent employment and hopefully progress within the company. I would also like to look at higher education options and gain as much knowledge and experience as I can. I would recommend Apprenticeships to other young people as a fantastic way to enter the industry.’’
Myerscough College Principal, Ann Turner said: “Becoming the first woman to become Principal of the college, I know how tough it can be to succeed in traditionally male dominated sectors.
’The achievements of Katie and our other female apprentices should be celebrated and I’m sure they’ll go onto fantastic careers within their chosen fields. Myerscough College is proud of its reputation as a leading provider of training for the land based and specialist industries. I wish Katie every success for the future.’’
CPA’s (Construction Plant-hire Association) Training & Safety Manager, Haydn Steele, was delighted to receive the news of Katie’s award win he said, “This is an excellent achievement for Katie and it’s also extremely encouraging to see women recognised within a male-dominated industry and seen as equals. It’s also a major step forward in inspiring more women to choose a career path within the construction plant engineering sector.”
Haydn added, “In last year’s CPA Stars of the Future Plant Mechanic awards we saw female A-Plant apprentice, Paige Carter scoop two awards at the event – both the regional and the national award at level two. We are sincerely hoping we see an entry this year from Myerscough and UK Forks for Katie Long – who is on track to becoming a ‘star in the making!’ The next Stars of the Future event takes place on June 15th at Vertikal Days, Haydock Park – so watch this space.”
