Celebration Day Success
Our third Prince’s Trust Get into Engineering Trades Celebration Day on 5th May 2023 was a great success, with family & friends, potential employers, and referral partners all showing up to celebrate the achievements of the young people. The 11 course participants attended Tullos Training for the six weeks leading up to the celebration day to gain workshop experience and complete an industry recognised qualification.
The young people started the six-week programme on 20th March 2023 with a two-week taster block which allowed them to try out various types of engineering including Welding, Hand Fitting, Maintenance, Electrical Engineering, Pneumatics and Machining. Despite this being our third Get into Engineering Trades programme, this is the first time we have offered Machining as an option for the young people and we received positive feedback from most participants. On completion of the first two weeks, participants were given the opportunity to complete an SVQ Level 2 Performing Engineering Operations unit in their preferred engineering trades with some of the young people even achieving two units by the end of the programme.
During our Easter break, Prince’s Trust Scotland arranged an interview tips session for the course participants at our local job centre. The session aimed to provided advice for interviews the young people may attend in the future as they embark on their journey to finding a Modern Apprenticeship. Participants who attended the interview session were kindly invited back to the job centre for an individual mock interview with feedback offered at the end of the interview. Ross Sutherland, Youth Development Lead at Prince’s Trust Scotland, also worked closely with the young people on gathering their CVs which were then distributed to six different employers each to receive feedback to help the participants build their CVs.
On 5th May 2023 we welcomed our celebration day guests to Tullos Training to celebrate the young people who took part in the course. Ross Sutherland started the event with a welcome and introduction to Tullos Training and Prince’s Trust Scotland followed by a presentation from our Training Executive, Jim Booth. Course funding partners John Lewis Partnership were also represented by Michelle Gray, Partner and People Manager who discussed the importance of programmes such as these in the current times. Each of the young people who participated in the course then gave short speeches about their experience on the programme and how they feel it has benefitted them. The event ended with a certificate ceremony for the participants who were each awarded a certificate by Mr Douglas Fowlie, Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Aberdeenshire.
We look forward to working with The Prince’s Trust on programmes like these in the future. Please contact Ross Sutherland by email, ross.sutherland@princes-trust.org.uk, to express your interest for future programmes.
- Ryan Baxter
- Leo Benzie
- Callum Broad
- Scott Mackay
- Niko Miller
- Finlay Mitchell
- Sophie Moore
- Finlay Tulloch
- Amalija Verjovcika
- Stuart Wilkie
- Kieran Wood
My name is Ryan Baxter and I am 16 years old. I joined the programme because I wanted to learn about the different types of engineering and to gain workshop experience. I really enjoyed being part of the Get into Engineering Trades programme and have gained a lot of workshop and practical experience.
I would recommend the course to other people as it shows you all aspects of what working life is like. After the course, I am hoping to start an apprenticeship in mechanical maintenance engineering.
My name is Leo Benzie, I am 19 years old. I really enjoy football, woodworking and metal work, mainly welding. I was attracted to the Prince’s Trust Get into Engineering Trades programme because it offered me the opportunity to try different trades to get a feel for engineering, widen my skill set and meet new people. During the programme I enjoyed learning about the welding industry and meeting great people at the same time.
I would recommend the programmes to others considering joining in the future because it is a great way to develop existing skills and learn new ones, meet new people and increase your chances of finding an apprenticeship. The advice I would give to future participants would be to enjoy it and be yourself. I am hoping to obtain an apprenticeship in welding/fabrication or woodworking (joinery) and further develop my skills from there.
My name is Callum Broad. I am 21 years old and have always enjoyed engineering but didn’t get the opportunity to do it at school. I have enjoyed the practical, hands on side of the course th most and hope to use my new found knowledge of engineering to find an apprenticeship.
I would recommend the programme to other young people interested in engineering because it is a fun course and allows you to try the different types of engineering and see what you like the most.
My name is Scott Mackay and I am 19 years old. I moved to Scotland about 2 years ago and in my spare time I enjoy gaming. I’ve always had an interest in engineering so the Get into Engineering Trades programme seemed like the perfect opportunity for me. I enjoyed trying out the different types of engineering in the first two-weeks of the programme but I enjoyed the last four weeks of the programme the most because I picked electrical engineering which meant that I got to build circuits and try to find electrical faults.
I would recommend the programme as it allows you to gain hands-on experience in a field you’re interested in. I would recommend that others participating in the course choose something that is going to motivate them and something that they will look forward to doing everyday.
My name is Niko Miller and I am 19 years old. Before the Get into Engineering Trades course I was working two jobs but always had an interest in engineering so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I enjoyed everything about the course, from learning new skills to making new friends. The programme was overall a great experience.
I would encourage others who are interested in engineering to take part in the programme because it’s a good way to get a taste of different types of engineering. Now that I completed the programme, I am hoping to start my career with an apprenticeship.
I am Finlay Mitchell and I am 16 years old. The Prince’s Trust Get into Engineering Trades programme interested me because of the workshop experience I would gain. During the programme, I have enjoyed meeting new people and the hard work required to achieve my unit.
I have really enjoyed my time on the programme and have had so much fun, so I would recommend that others take part in the course. It is also a great way to build your confidence. I am now hoping to use my new skills to find an apprenticeship in mecahnical maintenance.
My name is Sophie Moore and I am 17 years old. I have always been interested in engineering after watching my grandad fixing things on our farm growing up. Before the Get into Engineering Trades programme, I was attending an employability course at SHMU radio. I have enjoyed learning new skills and experiencing different types of engineering. It’s been interesting to see which types of engineering I’m good at.
The programme is a good opportunity to gain experience and build your CV if you are looking for an apprenticeship. I would advise anyone taking part in the course to select a unit in a type of engineering you are interested in and talk to the other apprentices attending the centre about their experiences and apprenticeships. I am really hoping to continue progressing in engineering with an apprenticeship.
My name is Finlay, I’m 23 and I moved from Edinburgh to the East Coast of Scotland quite recently. The opportunity came up to join the Prince’s Trust Get into Engineering programme whilst I was applying for jobs and it seemed like a good course to help me find employment. Before I joined the programme, I was between jobs and not very sure what I wanted to do as a career – The Prince’s Trust programme has definitely helped me work this out.
The programme offered a good example of the day to day on goings that you would expect from multiple different engineering trades and gives you the opportunity to decide which trades are and aren’t for you. The advice I would give to someone considering joining the programme would be to focus greatly on the first two weeks and really spend some time deciding which trade you want to get into as you might not have another opportunity to try out the different types of engineering. After the course, I’m hoping to find a Modern Apprenticeship and become a fully qualified engineer.
My name is Amalija Verjovcika and I am 17. The opportunity to find out more about engineering attracted me to the Prince’s Trust Get into Engineering programme. I really enjoyed being in the welding department at Tullos learning new skills with Barry. I would recommend the programme because it helps you figure out what types of engineering interest you.
I’m hoping to find an engineering apprenticeship after the programme to develop my skills and start working towards gaining qualifications.
My name is Stuart Wilkie and I am 20 years old. The opportunity to learn and expand my skills within the engineering sector is what originally attracted me to the programme. I enjoyed that we got to try the different types of engineering in the first two weeks before picking one type of engineering to complete a unit for in the last four weeks.
I would recommend the programme to others as it’s a good way to start a career in engineering. I would advise future candidates to think about what they would like to do in the future but go into the programme with an open mind as you may enjoy a different type of engineering more. After completing the programme I would like to start an engineering apprenticeship with the hope of progressing to offshore work in the future.
My name is Kieran Wood and I am 17 years old. I really enjoyed both the Machining and Electrical Engineering parts of the course and hope to get an engineering apprenticeship in the future.
I would recommend the programme to others because it has helped me to build my confidence in myself and with others. Advice I would give to people joining the programme would be to try your best and to keep going even if you don’t enjoy doing the paperwork for the unit.
