Apprentices are lighting the way for Buckinghamshire County Council

Apprentices at Buckinghamshire County Council were celebrated at an award ceremony held on 12 December.

And leading light among them was Alice Williams who supports the chairman in the civic and ceremonial team.

Five of her colleagues – Charyss Ingamells, Saqib Tahir, Jaydon McNeil, Jordan Price and Holly Usher also received achievement awards from County Council Chairman Val Letheren.

Val said: ‘Apprentices bring a wonderfully unique dimension to the council. They will never forget their time working here and I’m glad we have the opportunity to highlight their fantastic qualities. We want more people like the apprentices we have today, they bring such vibrancy to this council.’

Apprentice Alice Williams, who won the Leading Light award, said: ‘I am really pleased to win this award and am grateful for the recognition of all the hard work I put in. I would recommend the apprenticeship to anyone – you get the best of both worlds as you get a qualification and gain experience on the job, something going straight to college couldn’t offer.’

Since the apprenticeship scheme started in 2011, 76 young people have completed the course and 84% of those are still working at County Hall today.

Leader of Buckinghamshire County Council, Martin Tett, said: ‘Here at the County Council we really treasure the young talent Buckinghamshire has to offer. Our apprenticeship scheme has produced some wonderful people who have gone on to work in more senior positions within the council.

‘I hope that the apprentices we have today can inspire others to look at apprenticeship schemes within Buckinghamshire as these young people are the future of our county.’