AS NATIONAL Apprentice Week draws to a close, Great Western Railway has taken an accolade for its work investing in its apprentices.
The apprentice team at GWR supervises 240 apprentices across its network, and has now been given Gold accreditation from Investors in People’s apprentice program.
One of its apprentices, coach and mentor Ekaterina Cherkasenko, was also named Higher Apprentice of the Year at Exeter College.
GWR began its partnership with Exeter College when it launched a vocational apprenticeship program in 2012.
The company has also introduced Quest apprenticeship schemes to help colleagues to gain formal qualifications alongside their day-to-day roles.
Investors in People said: “The overall conclusion of this assessment is that Great Western Railway meet the ‘We invest in apprentices’ at Gold level.
“Congratulations– this is an excellent achievement for any organisation, but given the challenges facing the sector through Covid, industrial action and political uncertainty, this is exceptional.”
Ms Cherkasenko achieved a distinction in her Level 4 Coach and Assessor Quest apprenticeship, leading to her accolade at Exeter College.
GWR’s learning and development manager Andrew Perry, said: “To receive gold accreditation from Investors in People really is something to be celebrated.
“From my perspective it’s probably the highlight of my career– it’s recognition of so much hard work by the whole team.”
He explained: “We deliver our apprenticeships across 2,000 miles of the network and are pushing the boundaries to ensure our provision is up to date, challenging and future proof.”
Customer service apprentice Sami Ahmed, 19, from Reading, started at GWR in August last year.
He said: “In the apprenticeship you’re interacting with customers and therefore you’re improving your skills.
“You meet new people, apprentices, the mentors, line managers – they are all fun to work with and meet.
“The best thing I’ve done so far is most definitely the residential course– it improved my confidence with interacting with new people, facing my fears, like heights, for example.
He explained: “Before, I was saying I don’t want to go, but now that I’ve done it I’m very proud of myself
“What I would say to someone who wants to do an apprenticeship with GWR is don’t be nervous. It’s not as hard as you think, it’s not that nerve-racking because there’s lots of people to help you– the mentors, the other apprentices.”
Investors in People is a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organisations that meet the standards criteria.
More information about apprenticeships at Great Western Railway can be found via: gwr.com/about-gwr/careers/apprenticeships
