Knowsley Housing Trust, part of First Ark Group, continues offering ‘earn while you learn’ career opportunities to people in Merseyside as the area’s largest apprenticeship employer.
Based in Knowsley, Merseyside and part of First Ark Group, Knowsley Housing Trust is a housing provider which has helped over 120 young people secure apprenticeships across its five community-focused companies (including new homes through Oriel Living) over the last seven years. Last year, it recruited 18 new apprentices, of which 16 have gone on to full-time employment either within First Ark Group or with other local businesses.
One of them is plasterer Susan Thompson, a handy person accessor in the Care and Repair team in Vivark, part of First Ark Group. She said: “I joined the First Ark apprenticeship scheme in September 2015, in the Facilities Management team. The division employs very few women, in fact I’m the only female plasterer. My dad, brothers and uncles are all in the building trade and I’ve always had an ambition to work in the construction industry.
“After enrolling on a plastering course and qualifying in 2010, I then gave birth to my daughter. I found it difficult to find a job without practical experience and had the added challenge of wanting to work around nursery opening hours.
“After discovering the First Ark apprenticeship scheme I was bowled over when I realised it offered the perfect opportunity to improve my skills, earn a fair wage and work flexible hours.
“I have been mentored by experienced tradesmen throughout my apprenticeship and started by working on day-to-day repairs, refurbishing empty properties and maintaining the Group’s homes. I was then promoted to the role of multi-skilled apprentice and now I’ve progressed to the position of handy person accessor.”
Another former apprentice is Adam Jackson, who is now a performance & quality standards advisor at Knowsley Housing Trust. He explained: “I started a BSc computing course at Edge Hill University two years ago but left after my second year. I really learnt a lot but tuition fees and living expenses caused an overwhelming amount of stress for me at the time.
“I decided to look for an apprenticeship scheme, within an organisation, which would be able to support my ambitions and was well suited to the skills I had acquired. I applied for a Business Intelligence apprenticeship at First Ark and over the last two years I’ve been promoted to the role of performance & quality standards advisor.”
Group chief executive of Knowsley Housing Trust, Leann Hearne, said: “Apprenticeships and upskilling young people is very much on the government agenda and something we have supported for the last seven years. We are committed to investing in young people in the area and will continue to work with Knowsley Works, an employment support service, to create more apprenticeship opportunities this year.
“We’ve recently noticed how applications amongst graduates have shot up. Applicants have told us that an apprenticeship is now a way for a graduate to get on the career ladder, rather than applying through traditional graduate schemes. We’re finding highly qualified young people are using an apprenticeship as an alternative route into a role. The cost of university is now a major factor to consider before applying and many young people don’t want to be burdened with debts of £40,000 after finishing.”
Knowsley Housing Trust recently joined the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network (AAN), a group which aims to engage new employers to commit to apprenticeship delivery across England, with organisations demonstrating their own apprenticeship opportunities and engaging the interest of key stakeholders, including schools and colleges, employers and their supply chains.
Two of the Trust’s current apprentices – Beth Edge, who works in HR and Alan Ravenscroft, a member of the marketing and social media team – have been selected as Apprentice Ambassadors to represent the Group.
The Group itself supports many apprenticeship schemes and partners with Knowsley College, the University of Liverpool and has developed a pre-apprenticeship programme and has established HYPE Recruit, a collaboration between One Ark and HYPE Manchester which looks at issues facing young NEETs [Not in Education, Employment, or Training].
First Ark Group has also become the latest organisation to sign up to a Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) qualification and has enrolled eight apprentices on the CIH Level Three Housing Apprenticeship.
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