#NAW2020 Spotlight on… Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

To mark National Apprenticeship Week #NAW2020 the East of England LGA is shining a spotlight on examples of activities and events happening in Councils across the Region to celebrate apprenticeships in local government. Here are just a selection of events and promotional activities taking place across Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich Borough Council are holding an open day at Ipswich Town Hall on Tuesday 4 February.  The event is hosted by their Apprentices, and showcases the opportunities and benefits of being an apprentice at Ipswich Borough Council. Apprentices will be on hand to talk to parents/carers and potential apprentices about their own experiences, their qualifications and what it’s really like working for a busy borough council.

Babergh and Mid Suffolk Councils
Babergh and Mid Suffolk are working in partnership with other Suffolk based authorities to provide support and information for a promotions stand in Ipswich to promote apprenticeships.

East Suffolk Council
At East Suffolk Council there will be a daily social media focus on an apprentice, plus all current apprentices are taking part in a workshop on managing resilience on the Wednesday.

West Suffolk Council
On Monday 3 February there will be an Apprenticeship information point and staff, including apprentices, will be based at West Suffolk House in the reception area, to provide information and answer questions for both the public and employees.

A Look Beyond event will take place on Tuesday 4 February aimed at new apprentices to find out what they can from some of our service managers.

In the evening there will also be a Parents’ information session held at West Suffolk College, and members of the HR team will be representing the council and championing the Councils apprenticeships.

On Wednesday 5 February West Suffolk will support a careers fayre at Thurston School – some of West Suffolk’s apprentices were former students there.

What do you need to know about managing apprentices? Will be taking place on Thursday 6 February. There will be two one-hour drop-in sessions in the Training Room at College Heath Road for managers, team leaders and supervisors who already have an apprentice or who are thinking of having an apprentice in the future. It is an opportunity to promote and share ideas.

In addition, there will be a tea, coffee and cake charity event at West Suffolk House. This event has been organised by the apprentices, including the baking of cakes! All proceeds will be donated to the Butterfly Appeal, which is the Chairman’s charity this year.

Finally, on Friday 7 February there will be a litter picking session – a group of apprentices will be out and about litter picking on the streets of Bury St Edmunds, as part of the Great British Spring Clean which was launched on 25 January and is due to run between 20 March and 13 April. We hope that this will encourage other teams within the organisation to do the same.

Suffolk County Council
Suffolk County Council will be celebrating National Apprenticeship Week in a number of ways. There will be an information stand in the main building for 3 days and drop in sessions for staff interested in finding out more about doing an apprenticeship as well as managers interested in finding out more about recruiting an apprentice at all of their main buildings across the week.

In addition, there will be an information session for staff specifically on leadership and management qualifications through apprenticeships, an information session for managers on what’s involved in supporting business admin and customer service apprenticeships (as these are two of Suffolk’s most popular entry level routes) and a drop-in session for apprentices with their Chief Executive

Suffolk have a poster to advertise the week designed by one of their own apprentices and both the recruitment and communications teams will be posting to social media channels throughout the week. There will even be a special edition of the weekly staff news update, focussing on all things apprenticeships

Suffolk will be attending an apprentice job fair at their local job centre and have a number of apprentices going into local schools to talk about their role. Finally,  there will be a taster session for apprentices with the staff choir too.

Cambridgeshire County Council
During National Appretniceship Week the Chief Executive will be meeting apprentices who have completed their apprenticeship. There will also be two sessions for managers focussing on the recruitment of apprentices and offering guidance and support. There will be a number of general articles and updates on the intranet each day to promote the week and an article in Friday Focus reviewing the entire week.

The East of England LGA is committed to raising awareness of the importance of apprenticeships to our organisations and economies and to help increase the number and uptake of apprenticeships across the region. Working together is the best way to achieve this!

To share your apprenticeship stories get in touch with Emma Grant, Senior HR Advisor at the East of England LGA on [email protected] / 01284 758326
Find out more about the Get up and Grow campaign at here.