Staff from SWAC winning an award
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Fingers crossed for apprenticeship award finalists

Four of our students have been named finalists in the BristolLive and BathLive Apprenticeship Awards.

The apprentices are employed through our subsidiary company, the South West Apprenticeship Company (SWAC), and have their fingers crossed for the regional awards, which will be held in two weeks’ time. SWAC is an award-winning apprenticeship training agency which supports employers across the region to recruit and employ apprentices.

The nominees have all been recognised for their ‘exemplary’ work ethic, attitude and ‘motivation to learn’ by both City of Bristol College and SWAC.

Apprenticeship Business Development Manager, Sally Conlon, said: “We are absolutely delighted for all four of our finalists! Every single one of them deserves the recognition as they have shown such commitment to their role, especially throughout the past 18 months of uncertainty. Whether they were working from home, supporting other apprentices or trying to secure another placement for their dream job, they have all worked incredibly hard and have shown amazing levels of resilience throughout this time.

Find out more about the finalists:

Oliver Loveridge – Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Business, Administration and Financial Services)

Oliver is currently an apprentice at our College, and has been working in the finance department since joining us in 2018 on the AAT Accounting Level 2. Since joining, Oliver has become a valued part of the team and his achievements have been recognised in a number of award wins and nominations, including our Staff Award for Apprentice of the Year Award. He was also named a finalist at the National Apprenticeship Awards for the Rising Star Award.

Throughout the pandemic, Oliver as exhibited an exemplar attitude to working from home and has maintained his motivation to grow his knowledge and support the team. He has shown determination to succeed in his studies, despite lessons moving online.

Alice Loveday – Outstanding Contribution to Apprenticeships

Alice joined SWAC in 2017 as an apprentice herself! Since then, she has developed in her role and, specifically in the past 18 months, stepped up to take on some huge additional responsibilities to support all of the apprentices in a mentoring capacity. Alice, although no longer an apprentice has shone in her role, supporting our apprentices and providing them all with a much-needed shoulder or advice as part of her additional responsibilities and new role.

Anya McGauley – Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Business, Administration and Financial Services)

Anya has been employed by SWAC and placed with her host organisation since January 2019. During her time at the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), she has shown incredible skill in her role while also taking on a number of additional responsibilities. Anya is an Events Co-ordinator Apprentice and her role is to ensure the 40 regular events which are run in the Skills Support Development Network across her area of the South West run smoothly. As well as this, Anya has taken on a number of additional responsibilities, including setting up an annual conference and running the company’s mentoring programme.

Eliza Llwellyn – Outstanding Apprentice of the Year (Technology, Digital and Creative)

Eliza has been employed by SWAC since February 2020 and is now very close to completing her Level 3 Digital Marketing apprenticeship. When SWAC first met her, she was adamant that marketing was what she wanted to do and the career for her. Being thrown into a pandemic was a difficult time and, in the summer of 2020, Eliza unfortunately found herself looking for a new placement.

With her apprenticeship qualification on hold, Eliza set about contacting companies who potentially could be looking for a Digital Marketing Apprentice. She updated her profile and promoted herself on LinkedIn to catch the attention of potential new placements for her to complete her apprenticeship. This self-motivation, determination and resilience throughout the remainder of 2020 paid off for Eliza and it was not long before she was successful in securing a new placement with her host company HFMA.

If you would like to find out more about apprenticeships or you are an employer considering hiring an apprentice, then get in touch with our team now and find out more information on our website.

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