Apprentices and employers from across the North West had cause for celebration when they attended the 27th Annual Alliance Learning Awards Evening on Thursday 13th June 2019.

The Awards Ceremony, which recognises and rewards the hard work and commitment of learners and the businesses that support them, was held at The Institute of Management building in Bolton.

The Awards Evening was attended by local businesses, learners and their families as well as members of the Alliance Learning Board of Trustees, the Mayor of Bolton, the Mayor of Horwich, representatives from the Lancashare, The University of Bolton, GTA England and the event sponsors for the eight year running, MBDA UK Ltd.

Alliance Learning Marketing and New Business Manager, Chloe Ramsden, hosted the ceremony this year and Chief Executive, Kelly Perkin, presented the awards for each of the 17 categories on the night. The evening also consisted of two guest speakers, Andrew Marchant of MBDA UK Ltd and the Apprentice of the Year 2018, David Thomas of William Hare who both shared their own experiences surrounding apprenticeships. 

The highlight of the awards evening is the much coveted overall 'Apprentice of the Year’ award. This recognises the person who has shown exceptional commitment to their training programme throughout the last year from the Apprentice of the Year winners.

This year the award was won by Tina Goodram of St Bede's Out of School Club.

During the ceremony Tina was described as a natural when it came to working with children and her knowledge is second to none. Recent comments from OFSTED have included ‘bottling this persons personality as it was so inspiring’. She demonstrated dedication and hard work and thoroughly deserves to be the winner of this award. Her employer also added that Tina is a valued member of staff and has grown in confidence, personality and knowledge for the role. She is loved by all the children and is the heart of the team.

Other winners on the night included:

Fabrication & Welding Progression Award
Hawulethu Nkomo - Bolton Gate Company

Electrical / Maintenance Engineering Progression Award
Lorna Hay - Hill Biscuits

Mechanical Engineering Progression Award
Aiden Fearnhead - Silcoms Ltd

Technical Engineering Progression Award
Michael Birhane - William Hare Ltd

Positive Contribution Award
Amber Smith - React Services UK Ltd

Company of the Year for Training and Development Award
William Hare Ltd

Alliance Learning Employee of the Year Award
Kathryn Bailey

Business Administration Apprentice of the Year Award
Robert Norris - (Formerly) MP Chris Green's Office

Business Management Apprentice of the Year Award
Jane Warburton - Bolton Council

Children & Young People’s Workforce Apprentice of the Year Award
Tina Goodram - St Bede's Out of School Club

Health & Social Care Apprentice of the Year Award
Summer Grimshaw - My Life

Supporting Teaching & Learning Apprentice of the Year Award
Julie Partington - Tonge Moor Primary Academy

Fabrication & Welding Apprentice of the Year Award
Dean Stockton-Beesley - Time DMG Steelworkers Ltd

Electrical / Maintenance Engineering Apprentice of the Year Award
Jack Holt - Viridor Waste Management

Mechanical Engineering Apprentice of the Year Award
Philip Eastwood - Kadant UK Ltd

Speaking at the event, Chief Executive of Alliance Learning, Kelly Perkin, had the following comments:

“2018–2019 has been yet another truly fantastic year for the organisation. We have continued to build on our strategic partnership with The University of Bolton and Bolton College. We are delighted to announce a new one-stop-shop for apprenticeships, education and training with the launch of ConnectED. This allows us to offer seamless progression opportunities for individuals of all ages from Level 1 to Level 7 and provide strong succession planning for employers. We have also successfully retained our Matrix Standard, demonstrating the very good Information Advice and guidance we give to our Learners, employers and customers. We have been successful in gaining a European Social Funding Contract which will allow existing employees in SME’s to upskill and continue to boost the skills gaps in our economy. We continue to deliver the new high quality Apprenticeship Standards in Engineering, Business and Business Management at Level 5, with our first achiever gaining a distinction and we continue to perform well above national achievement rates. 
Our winner of last year’s Apprentice of the Year, Dave Thomas, was also recognised at the National GTA Apprenticeship Awards, to win Engineering Apprentice of the Year. This is the second Year running that Alliance Learning Apprentices have won this award, showing our excellent calibre of learners”

“Thank you to everyone who has supported us – our Board of Trustees, the businesses we work with and the learners we support through their training. I’d also like to thank all this evening’s winners for their hard work. Without them this evening would not be possible.”

Click here to view the photo full album of pictures of the evening.

Click here to view the video interviews with each of the winners.