NELSON APPRENTICE NAILS AWARD AT NATIONAL FINALS

KIAH RADCLIFFE

It was a weekend full of fun and being treated like a VIP for Tasman Homes building apprentice Charlette Bone, at the New Zealand Certified Builders Association Apprentice Challenge in Christchurch last month.

The mother-of-two won the Nelson regional heat of the Apprentice Challenge earlier in the year and attended the finals on May 27 and 28, the only female apprentice to make it.

She came out with a Personality Award and $3000.

Though it was a “funny story” of why she even attended in the first place.

“There were not that many competitors going into the Nelson Marlborough one [heat] and a couple of the fellas from work were going to do it and they kind of needed a boost in numbers.”

So Bone thought “why not?” — it would give her good experience.

She had to front up with a CV, an introduction letter about herself, a portfolio of three jobs she had completed, a written speech and be prepared for an exam.

As soon as she arrived in Christchurch, Bone was whisked off to the first event of the weekend... the exam.

She presented her speech to over 100 people on why her hands were her favourite tool, and created a unicorn truck-and-trailer unit (to “represent the girls”) at the building challenge. All of which culminated in a weekend that. Bone said, was a “really good time”.

Bone didn’t start off in the trades, she originally worked in hospitality for 18 years before deciding it wasn’t getting her anywhere. Being a single mother of two young girls, she decided she wanted to “better herself.

“It wasn’t going to get me anywhere that the girls and I could have a good, foreseeable future, like you know, do fun stuff.” Bone asked herself what else she loved to do and said building was it. She is now in the second year of her apprenticeship.

She was completing her course through the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT). She also did a pre-trade course as well as a Level 3 carpentry course.

She’s not in any rush to finish the course and said she’s happy to complete it when she can.

“It’s probably the bookwork that slows me down, like obviously, I work full time, so I get lots of practical, but just having the two girls, I’m still going to be a mama. It’s my number one priority.”

If it takes her two years or more to get the paperwork signed off. Bone doesn’t mind, and it shows her girls she has patience. After her weekend in Christchurch, Bone was stoked with all that she had achieved and “pretty proud” of herself. A tradeswoman who is finally in her element.