Awards honour achievements of apprentices and employers
Achampion butcher and the first private retirement home for horses are in the running for an award at this year’s Apprenticeships Awards Cymru.
Last year champion butcher Peter Rushforth, 22, from Leeswood, won a WorldSkills UK gold medal for butchery, the Meat Trades Journal Young Butcher of the Year title, represented the UK in a European Young Butchers competition and was runner-up in the Premier Young Butchers contest.
This year the former Welsh Young Butcher champion secured a Meat Promotion Wales/Hybu Cig Cymru scholarship to study beef forequarters and related products in the USA and was named Higher Apprentice of the Year by his training provider, Cambrian Training Company.
Now he has been shortlisted to become Higher Apprentice of the Year at the Apprenticeship Awards Cymru ceremony at the Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, on October 20.
Mr Rushforth started working at Swans Farm Shop in Treuddyn, near Mold, at weekends when he was 15 and jumped at the chance to pursue an apprenticeship there when he left school with nine GCSEs and three A-levels.
He has progressed from a foundation apprenticeship in meat and poultry industry skills to a higher apprenticeship in food manufacturing excellence, which he completed earlier this year.
Now in demand as a butchery demonstrator both in the UK and internationally, he said: “My apprenticeships have opened doors to many opportunities, such as competitions. I’ve developed my skills tenfold and they have motivated me to expand my skillset to be the best.”
Clive Swan, owner of Swans Farm Shop, added: “Peter is the epitome of everything the Apprenticeship Programme stands for.”
The owners of the first private retirement home for horses in Great Britain are passionate about developing staff through apprenticeship programmes.
Nicky and Ray Van Dijk, owners of Happy Horse Retirement Home in Crai, near Brecon, opened the centre in 1989 and now have eight staff who care for 50 horses.
Happy Horse Retirement Home is no stranger to awards, as assistant manager Marc Pugh won the Jobs Growth Wales Outstanding Achiever Award last year. His success story has inspired others to follow in his footsteps – the company has helped train nine apprentices in the past five years, most of whom have gone on to careers in the equine industry. One former apprentice represents Great Britain in harness driving.
The company – whose apprenticeships are delivered by Coleg Cambria – will be competing to become Small Employer of the Year at the awards.
Nicky Van Dijk said: “The Apprentice Programme is essential to our business, meets my specialist staffing needs as a yard-owner and appeals to our students because of the career avenues we can open up for them. Our success lies in our outstanding apprentices.”
Coleg Cambria’s equine assessor Katy Davies said: “There is a real shortage of skilled workers in the equine industry and even more so in these remote places in Wales. Nicky enables young people to find their niche, gain valuable qualifications and set themselves up for a successful future.”
Jointly organised by the Welsh Government and the National Training Federation for Wales, the awards are sponsored by Pearson plc and supported by Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail.
Thirty star learners, employers and learning providers involved in the delivery of successful skills programmes across Wales have been shortlisted for the awards.
The awards are designed to showcase and celebrate the outstanding achievements of learners, employers, tutors and assessors who have excelled in contributing to the development of the Welsh Government’s Apprenticeship Programme, which is supported by the European Social Fund.
Skills and Science Minister Julie James said: “This year’s shortlisted entrants include exceptional individuals who have excelled in their workplace, and learning providers and employers that have gone the extra mile to support the apprentices they are working with. Their stories never cease to amaze and inspire.
“These awards provide a perfect platform to celebrate success and reward the hard work and dedication of learners, employers and training providers across Wales.
“I wish everyone the very best of luck for the night.”