7th July 2022

South Devon College held its annual apprenticeship awards recently.

The prestigious event organised to celebrate the outstanding success of all apprenticeships across the college was hosted at the Imperial hotel in Torquay.

This year there were 140 nominations across 15 categories including health, digital media and construction. 

“Tonight is all about celebration and as principal of South Devon College I am delighted that in 21/22 the College supported over 1,000 local employers and 1,650 apprentices,” said Laurence Frewin. 

“We saw amazing numbers of adult apprentices and increasing interest in higher levels. More employers are rightly choosing to engage with the apprenticeship programme as a way to develop the skills of existing staff and to bring in and support new recruits. So, a very big thank you to all of our local employers for your ongoing commitment to providing these opportunities for local talent.”

The awards evening was compered by Jim Parker, Editor of the Torbay Weekly and the keynote speaker was Tim Bradshaw, Director of Sandstone Communications. 

Judges were Ben Pountney, Operational Manager – Apprenticeships at South Devon College, Sharron Robbie MBE, CEO of Devon and Cornwall Training Provider Network, Steve Reynolds, Chair of the Torbay Business Forum and Jim Parker, Editor of Torbay Weekly.

The overall winner of the awards, Apprentice of the Year, was 56 year old Jo White from Saltash. She also won the Health Apprentice of the Year category. 

Jo was selected for demonstrating her strength, resilience and determination while working in the ICU department at the hospital throughout the pandemic and remaining committed to completing her apprenticeship.

“I’m proud that all my efforts have been recognized,” said Jo. “I started an apprenticeship because I wanted to further my career prospects once I’d started working in the hospital. I had a goal in mind and thought this was a good first step to achieving that. It’s been tough but well worth it.  I’ve been lucky enough to get the job of my dreams through completing the apprenticeship and successfully interviewing for the role of nursery nurse on the Transitional Care ward at Derriford Hospital.”

List of award categories with winners and runners up:

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