Gloucestershire college's Amy picks up national apprenticeship award

Amy Brown, 25-year-old carpentry apprentice at Gloucestershire college, has won the Amazon Intermediate Apprentice of the Year award at this year's National Apprenticeship Awards and hopes to inspire more females into trade apprenticeships.

Brown, from Cheltenham, first won the regional title in October and has now emerged as the winner among eight national finalists.

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"It’s an experience I will never forget," she said of the accolade.

"I think it’s so important that we get more females in construction. After finishing school, I didn’t think it was an option for a girl to do a trade, as A Levels and universities are traditionally pushed as a better route, ignoring some other students’ natural abilities.

"I hope that maybe one girl will see this and realise that she can start a career in trade too with an apprenticeship. And then she will inspire another girl, who will inspire another, and the domino effect will finally get more women in construction."

Now in the second year of her apprenticeship, she was nominated by her employer, Cheltenham-based building contractor Tombs Developments Ltd, who employed her as an apprentice with no prior industry experience.

"She is a highly valuable member of our small team. Being able to trust Amy to work independently and to a good standard is a huge bonus to us as employers. Amy embodies the concept that hard work and dedication really do pay off," said Dominic Cook, director at Tombs Developments.

Gloucestershire College (GC) is career-focused education provider, delivering learning across three campuses in Cheltenham, Gloucester and the Forest of Dean.

It offers a range of academic, professional and technical training programmes for school leavers, adults and employers.

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