Student Stories: Craig
Craig Fletcher has been a recent success story for the Amenity Horticulture Apprenticeship at YMCA Training, Salford, after reaching the final stages of the Personal Achiever of the Year Award for the Greater Manchester area in the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) National Apprenticeship Awards, held on 22nd May 2008 at The Lowry Hotel in Manchester.
Craig received £100, as well as a framed certificate at the awards, which are designed to recognise the hard work and commitment of young people currently on, or who have recently completed, an Apprenticeship.
Craig initially completed YMCA Training’s Fast Forward Course in June 2007, which gives unemployed people a part-time four week crash course in what’s involved in Apprenticeships, before moving onto YMCA Training’s Entry to Employment (E2E programme) whilst completing a placement at Pacific Landscapes, Worsley, where he now works as a Apprentice Landscape Gardener.
Craig passed his Level 1 Literacy and Numeracy and progressed onto a YMCA Training Apprenticeship in Amenity Horticulture in January 2008. Since then, Craig has passed his Employee Rights and Responsibilities and Emergency First Aid and is now learning to drive. Craig is currently studying for his PA1 and PA6 Pesticide Certificates.
Craig has shown other learners what can be achieved through hard work and determination, beginning his studies on a pre-E2E course and ultimately achieving full time employment.