London Gatwick hosted Apprenticeship Fair as part of National Apprenticeship Week. This event brought together more than 100 attendees, including local school students and jobseekers, at the airport's STEM Centre for an inspiring day of career exploration.
Alison Addy, Head of External Engagement and Policy, and Peter Lamb MP for Crawley, were in attendance.
Alison Addy, Head of External Engagement and Policy, and Peter Lamb MP for Crawley, were in attendance.
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00:00Good morning, Mark. I'm Alison Addy and I'm the Head of External Engagement and Policy
00:10at London Gatwick.
00:11Yes, there is a real buzz here today. We're at the London Gatwick STEM Centre and over
00:20the course of today we're expecting 250 local students and job seekers. We've got 15 employers
00:26here, all here to tell students about the Apprenticeship opportunities. That includes
00:33our own engineering team. We've got applications opening next week for our Engineering Apprenticeship,
00:39that's a four-year apprenticeship, as well as an IT Apprenticeship, which is two years.
00:45But actually what I love about today is that we can showcase the fact that across Gatwick
00:50Airport there are so many different opportunities to build careers and actually what we say
00:56at London Gatwick in terms of our own vision, and particularly for passengers, is that we're
01:01the airport for everyone, whatever your journey. And I love the fact that that can apply to
01:06your career as well. So today we've got Network Rail, we've got Border Force, we've got restaurant
01:16and bar apprenticeships in hospitality. We've just been talking to MACE who are working
01:23on one of the big construction projects, the Pier 6 project at Gatwick, and there are
01:27massive opportunities and ambitions they've got in order to inspire students about the
01:32careers that they can have in construction. And often when students think about construction
01:38they think about the building part of it, but actually there are so many different roles
01:42involved in planning and designing and managing these types of projects, and obviously working
01:49at an airport environment, it's such a buzzy place to be, but it makes it really attractive.
02:01It's fantastic actually, I arrived about five minutes before the students did, and when
02:05they flooded in, the place just lit up. And what's lovely to see is that they're all asking
02:10great questions, they're really interested in the different opportunities, you know,
02:15what subjects do I need to be, making sure I get to get into the entry level, and the
02:21fact is that with our engineering team we've got our own apprentices here that can talk
02:25about their experience. I was just talking to one of them actually, Abby, she actually
02:31was at a local school in Horsham, and our engineering team went and did a STEM outreach
02:37activity, she persuaded her teacher to let her go along, she ended up, the school actually
02:43ended up putting on an engineering GCSE, and she ended up here as an apprentice, she's
02:50just about to complete her four year apprenticeship, and fingers crossed, will become an engineering
02:56technician here working on our baggage systems. I mean, she's so passionate about it, and
03:02she's here talking to other students about what that could mean for them. We've got eighteen
03:07apprentices here at the moment, six of those are girls, you know, female apprentices, and
03:13that's something that we've been working really hard to make sure that everyone knows
03:17that there's an opportunity for them here. And with so many employers here today, and
03:23so many students, I just, you know, I'm really excited, because this is really making sure
03:28that, you know, students locally, they're sitting at school, they might be at the year
03:33where they've got to choose their subjects, or they're thinking about careers, and the
03:37tense sometimes, I think it's changing a bit now, but there's been a tendency to forget
03:41about that route through to apprenticeships. And the apprentice we were talking to this
03:46morning was saying that, although she was doing quite well at school, she really did
03:51not like the classroom environment, it was not the place for her, she wanted to be hands-on,
03:55and so, of course, this is ideal for her. And that's the case, you know, classroom environment
04:01isn't necessarily the right place for everyone, so it's finding what's right for you, and
04:06being able to build, you know, a future career from that.
04:09So I'm here, I joined here at 31, I've been here two years, I'm an apprentice, so I've
04:15been on the apprenticeship.
04:18Part of the Northern Runway project, actually as part of the application, we have put together
04:22an employment skills and business strategy, so that actually shows how we will work with
04:28local partners, local schools, across not just education and skills, but through the
04:34construction supply chain, through procurement, innovation, we've got a whole theme on innovation,
04:41and also how to promote the region and make sure that everything we do in the way that
04:46we grow the airport over the, you know, coming years, that we're making sure that we're doing
04:52everything we can to work alongside the local community and local partners to ensure that
04:59there's a really thriving and resilient economy that benefits everybody, and that's the role
05:05that London Gatwick can play in really sort of bringing that benefit to the region.
05:17My name's Peter Lamb, and I am the Member of Parliament for Crawley. I think it's brilliant,
05:21apprenticeships really provide kids with an alternative route into work and into education.
05:26A degree's not for everyone, and that shouldn't necessarily be for everyone. If you want to do
05:29something that's hands-on, if you want to get into employment more quickly, there are so many
05:32things we need people to be doing at the moment. I mean, one area alone that we're talking to here
05:36is about construction. There's a desperate need for construction skills. If we don't get kids
05:40into construction, this country is going to grind to an absolute halt, so it's great to
05:43see so much enthusiasm from the kids about trying to take a different approach to their education.
05:52So you can do pretty much everything you might want to put your mind to. I mean,
05:55there are so many opportunities. So many parts of the country are unlucky in terms of opportunities.
05:59If you live in Crawley, if you're growing up in Crawley, you've got so many opportunities right
06:02on your doorstep. Do look around, shop around, find something that works for you. You know,
06:06the world is your oyster. Everyone in Crawley has either worked at the airport or someone in
06:15their family's worked at the airport, so there's a real kind of community-based space around that
06:18as well. You know, you have these opportunities there. Do make the best of it, and you know,
06:22absolutely, I want to see local kids from Crawley having the best shot at life,
06:25and this is one way of doing that.
06:31My name's Jamie. I'm a first-year apprentice, and so far, it is really good.
06:38Before I found the apprenticeship, I was doing building work,
06:42which was good, but I knew I wanted to do practical work,
06:46but not in construction, and I came across the apprenticeship online, and I was able to come
06:52and do a week's work experience, and I really enjoyed it. So I just applied, and then I got
06:56it really. It's good having schools in to see what they can do, because I don't think when you're in
07:01school, you don't get stuff like this. You don't get shown to. You don't know what's available,
07:05so to come and see things like this, it's helpful. I would say apply for it. Just try it,
07:12because it is really good, and it's something that you won't get anywhere else.
07:16If you like practical work, it is definitely a good thing to do, and it is so different,
07:22so much different things you can get involved in, so I highly, highly recommend it.