South Gloucestershire Council

South Gloucestershire

Emma Ford

Disability Employment Co-ordinator

South Gloucestershire Council is hoping to give young people an opportunity to develop their skills and gain valuable work experience by investing in an apprenticeship scheme.
 
Following a hugely successful trial of the first apprenticeship scheme, Emma Ford, the council’s Disability Employment Co-ordinator, says: “The council doesn’t receive a huge amount of interest from people under 20 – and that is a challenge for the authority.

“There are lots of people reaching the end of their career at the council and we need to get new people coming through the door.
 
“Previously we were tasked with drumming up interest to bring people in, and the apprenticeship scheme seemed like an obvious choice - so we set up a pilot scheme with eight young people on a six-month apprenticeship.
 
“Not only is it a socially and morally good thing to do, there is very much a business case behind it. We’ll be using the experience to see what apprenticeships we can offer next – and we’ll be selling it to managers as a smarter way of recruiting.”
 
As a measure of the pilot scheme’s success, Emma cites the case of Taijaan De Cordova, who did his six-month Business & Administration apprenticeship in the development and contacts team of the authority’s planning department.
 
“When he joined us,” says Emma, “he was rather a quiet person who didn’t say much – but what he did say was really valued and had a lot of impact.

“At first, we weren’t sure if he really wanted the apprenticeship but he just blossomed. As he settled in and got more confident he became a valuable member of the team.

“Everything I ever heard about him was really positive. At meetings, people joked that he knew everything that needed to be known. People relied on him and he became a real asset to the team and an asset to the council.”
 
Taijaan joined the council straight after finishing his GCSEs. The council has been working closely with Filton College to place young people in appropriate apprenticeships.
 
Assessing Taijaan’s progress, Emma says he came on leaps and bounds.
 
“We were really impressed, as he probably travelled the furthest. The others had more experience and were more confident and outgoing, but he really stood out at the end,” she said.
 
Emma describes the pilot scheme as a brilliant experience with eight apprentices who were of a very high standard.
 
“Filton College were fantastic. We worked really well together and we’ve developed a really good working relationship.

“They were always at the end of the phone or quick to respond to e-mails and were really flexible. Both sides wanted it to work and we found the chemistry needed to make this a success.”

Filton College