GWR takes Gold for its work with apprentices

By JAKE CLOTHIER jclothier@rdg.today

GREAT Western Railway has taken an accolade for its work investing in its apprentices.

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“The section, which is easily accessed from the homepage, follows direct feedback from residents from our disabled community, telling us about their frustrations navigating through all the different sections of the Council website to find the information relevant to them.”

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“The update brings together important information to meet the needs of our disabled residents.

“It’s been a long-wished for facility from our disabled community and my thanks go to the Access and Disabilities Working Group and Council’s Digital and Information Communications Technology team.”

“We’ll continue to work closely and in consultation with our disabled community reviewing and adding additional and supplementary information to meet their needs.”

The apprentice team at GWR supervises 240 apprentices across its network, and has now been given Gold accreditation from Investors in People’s apprentice programme.

One of its apprentices, coach and mentor Ekaterina Cherkasenko, was also named Higher Apprentice of the Year at Exeter College.

GWR began its partnership with Exeter College when it launched a vocational apprenticeship programme in 2012.

The company has also introduced Quest apprenticeship schemes to help colleagues to gain formal qualifications alongside their day-to-day roles.

Investors in People said: “The overall conclusion of this assessment is that Great Western Railway meet the ‘We invest in apprentices’ at Gold level.

“Congratulations – this is an excellent achievement for any organisation, but given the challenges facing the sector through Covid, industrial action and political uncertainty, this is exceptional.”

Ms Cherkasenko achieved a distinction in her Level 4 Coach and Assessor Quest apprenticeship, leading to her accolade at Exeter College.

GWR’s learning and development manager Andrew Perry, said: “To receive gold accreditation from Investors in People really is something to be celebrated.

“From my perspective it’s probably the highlight of my career – it’s recognition of so much hard work by the whole team.”

He explained: “We deliver our apprenticeships across 2,000 miles of the network and are pushing the boundaries to ensure our provision is up to date, challenging and future proof.”

Customer service apprentice Sami Ahmed, 19, from Reading, started at GWR in August last year.

He said: “In the apprenticeship you’re interacting with customers and therefore you’re improving your skills.

“You meet new people, apprentices, the mentors, line managers – they are all fun to work with and meet.

“The best thing I’ve done so far is most definitely the residential course–it improved my confidence with interacting with new people, facing my fears, like heights, for example.

He explained: “Before, I was saying I don’t want to go, but now that I’ve done it I’m very proud of myself

“What I would say to someone who wants to do an apprenticeship with GWR is don’t be nervous. It’s not as hard as you think, it’s not that nerve-racking because there’s lots of people to help you – the mentors, the other apprentices.” n More information about apprenticeships at Great Western Railway can be found via: gwr.com/about-gwr/careers/ apprenticeships

Investors in People is a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organisations that meet the standards criteria.

REMEMBERED: A vigil for Brianna Ghey will be held in Forbury Gardens on Saturday, February 18, from 7pm.

Picture: Cheshire Police, by kind courtesy of the family of Brianna Ghey.