Celebrating the stars of vocational learning
Gareth Jones previews tomorrow evening’s In-Comm Training Awards and has one clear message…celebrating Apprenticeships is for life, not just for one night in June!!
Just one day to go until the 7th In-Comm Training Awards, one of the biggest celebrations of vocational learning in the UK.
Tomorrow night, more than 350 people will be packed into the ICC to recognise the achievements of apprentices from across the Midlands, young people who have gone above and beyond on their courses to have a positive impact on the firms they work for and UK industry as a whole.
Importantly, we will also be shining the spotlight on the forgotten heroes as well. You know the mentors that have invested blood sweat and tears into their development, In-Comm staff who have passed on their expertise and knowledge and the employers who have put their money where their collective mouths are to ‘grow their own’.
This is a very important point. For the UK to bridge the current skills and competency gap it has to be a joint effort, it has to be a concoction of businesses getting involved, young people having the right work ethic, parents not being afraid to give their blessing to vocational learning and education to understand what industry has to offer.
The days of dark satanic mills, oily factories and battered old machinery is not the norm any longer. Instead, manufacturing and engineering are awash with robotics, CAD/CAM systems, precision CNC machines and state-of-the-art metrology.
Manufacturing and engineering is about playing a role in making sure F1 cars get faster, aeroplanes are lighter, people can walk again – all played out in bright factories and with great earning potential.
This is the message we want people to take away from the In-Comm Training Awards 2018. It will be the biggest event we have ever put on and this year we have even managed to secure the services of Master of Ceremonies Carl Jones (former Editor of the Shropshire Star) along with Grant and James Cooper, the unofficial ‘Robots Wars Champions’.
If that wasn’t enough, the Black Country’s funniest comedian Doreen Tipton will also be entertaining us, making the mammoth journey from God’s Country to the ICC in Birmingham.
We want to create a real buzz about vocational learning and a night to remember for our 50 plus nominees, who have been shortlisted by an industry led-judging panel and will battle it out for eight different awards.
If you are attending or following it on social media, please get involved using #InCommA18 and let us know about your own personal experiences of Apprenticeships.
Let’s make some noise…not just for tomorrow, but going forward. It’s good to talk!
