Twenty-six apprentices from different business sectors across the area came together for the event as part of National Apprenticeship Week 2018. Apprentices attending the launch event at Superior were from a variety of companies and sectors: Superior; Francesco Group; BAE; JP Morgan; NHS; Berthon Boats; Bournemouth and Poole College; Savills; Redweb; Ultra Electronics; Fab Frocks; Bournemouth Rugby; Heatric; Hampshire County Council; Liverpool Victoria; and the RNLI.

Lauren Turner, an apprentice at Redweb currently on the Digital Marketing Course at Bournemouth and Poole College, said, “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and I looked at Uni, but I didn’t want to spend that kind of money on something I wasn’t sure that I would go into as a career. So I looked at apprenticeships and now work for Redweb working on national clients within a team, with great training and most of all, experience.”

David Massieu-King, past business administration apprentice, Bournemouth and Poole College said, “I did A Levels but didn’t want to go to University even though I had the grades, as I didn’t want to move or incur debt. I felt I was ready for work and applied to Bournemouth and Poole College, undertaking my apprenticeship in the marketing department. Having completed that, I have moved to the Apprenticeship Department and value the opportunity the YAAN will give all of us to go into schools and share our knowledge and experience with students.”

Dorset and Solent is one of five YAAN sub-regions in the South East, chaired by Ben Clarke of Superior. Ben, an award-winning past apprentice and now senior manager at Superior, said, “The Ambassador Network has a unique role to play in allowing the next generation of school leavers to make informed choices about apprenticeships through information and real experiences shared by young people, for young people. We look forward to recruiting many more ambassadors to represent as many sectors as we can to make this a rich and diverse pool of experience and expertise for schools to draw upon.

“It is fantastic to see so many apprentices coming together in National Apprenticeship Week for the launch, representing so many sectors of our region. Support from their businesses has also been overwhelming; we thank them all.”

The launch of Dorset and Solent YAAN was supported by Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP); Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI); the Careers and Enterprise Company in Dorset; and Hampshire County Council.

Launched at the end of last year, YAAN is a national initiative supported by the National Apprenticeship Service. Its aim is to recruit past and present young apprentices across all levels and business areas of apprenticeships to engage with and provide information on apprenticeships, directly to young people, teachers and parents. Apprentices up to the age of 26 can apply to become ambassadors on the YAAN website https://yaan.amazingapprenticeships.com/. The site also acts as a portal for schools, with different types of activities designed to address any knowledge gaps students, teachers or parents may have.