Deadline for Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards fast approaching

The county’s popular apprenticeship celebration is returning in 2021 and the deadline to enter and nominate is fast approaching.

Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and Worcestershire County Council deliver the awards, and after a hiatus in 2020 due to COVID-19, the awards are coming back for 2021.

Local businesses and apprentices are being encouraged to get their entries and nominations in before the deadline of the 30 July. Anyone can nominate someone for the awards, but this year the awards will be focusing on Apprentices, Employers and the new Apprentice Resilience award.

The new Apprentice resilience award is for an apprentice who has shown great spirit of character and resilience in the face of 2020, both professionally and personally, and rose to the challenges created by the pandemic.

The entry process is available through the Worcestershire Apprenticeships website and this year the team will be also accepting entries and nominations from the past 2 years, both 2020 and 2021. Employers in Worcestershire who have outstanding apprentices, and apprentices who have a great employer are encouraged to nominate.

The awards this year will take place in a different format to previous years due to safety surrounding the pandemic and large-scale events.

Instead this year’s awards will be a three-day online celebration. Across the three days the team will feature and celebrate the work of all those involved in apprenticeships locally, whilst also sharing the winners split across the three days.

More detail on the new award format will be shared in due course but the celebration will take place in November this year.

 Gary Woodman, Chief Executive at Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership said: “This year’s awards will be different to the norm, but we’re excited to be able to continue with a celebration despite the pandemic. I’d like to encourage employers and apprentices to submit their nominations by July 30 so we can recognise the fantastic talent we have in the county.”

Councillor Marc Bayliss, Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Economy and Skills said: “In previous years, the Worcestershire Apprenticeship Awards have been traditional celebration events. In the current climate, we of course need to adapt and recognise talent in alternative ways. This is a great way to celebrate apprenticeships and we’re very much looking forward to it.”

Nominations in the following awards categories are now open:

Apprentice Awards

• Intermediate Level Apprentice of the Year
• Advanced Level Apprentice of the Year
• Higher Level Apprentice of the Year
• Apprentice Resilience Award – new for 2021!

Employer Awards

• Small Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (< 50 employees)
• Medium Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (50 – 249 employees)
• Large Apprenticeship Employer of the Year (> 250 employees)

As in previous years, the awards will culminate in the two illustrious overall awards of ‘Worcestershire Apprenticeship Employer of the Year’, and ‘Worcestershire Apprentice of the Year’.

The deadline for entries and nominations for the awards is July 30 2021 and nominations for the 2021 Awards can cover both 2020 and 2021.