Last week saw the return of the Apprenticeship Bus tour as part of National Apprenticeship Week.
For this three-day event, we took apprentices from a range of employers and industries into local schools for speed networking sessions with students from years 10 and 11, giving pupils a chance to meet them face to face and get a real, first-hand insight into what life is like as an Apprentice.
In total, 10 Portsmouth schools and an estimated 1,400 students took part in the event, a more than 60% increase on the 857 pupils our apprentices met last year.
The bus for the tour was provided once again by Stagecoach South, and 59 apprentices joined us from Abri, Airbus, BH Live, Biscoes Solicitors, City of Portsmouth College, Haha Training, Hovertravel, Hythe Marine, Marriott Hotel, Mountjoy, New Theatre Royal, The News, the NHS, PMC Construction, Pompey in the Community, Portsmouth City Council, Portsmouth International Port, Rexel Portsmouth, the Royal Navy, Shaping Portsmouth, South Western Railway, Unloc, Vespasian Security, and Waterman Aspen over the three days.
Steve Thorpe, Marketing Officer for Stagecoach South, said, “Stagecoach have been proud to support the Apprentice Bus programme since 2018. As part of our community engagement, we have been delighted to continue our support in conveying apprentices to a number of education establishments across the city of Portsmouth.”
Chloe Bolton, Enterprise & Skills Executive (Careers) at Portsmouth City Council, said, “This year’s Apprenticeship Bus programme was a huge success and provided an opportunity for young people to explore the apprentice routes available beyond school and college.”
Sam McGrath, Director of Operations & Marketing at Shaping Portsmouth, said, “Our Apprenticeship Bus programme has been growing from strength to strength over the past years. This project takes 6 months of planning and 3-4 days to deliver. The full stakeholder team work around the clock to make sure the administration and logistics are tight. A huge thank you to Marian Glover, Company Administrator at Shaping Portsmouth, Chloe Bolton & Margaret Lane from Portsmouth City Councils Enterprise, Skills, and Career Department, as well as Colin Ashcroft, Steve Thorpe, and their incredible team of volunteers at Stagecoach.”
