First year Apprentice at Alpha Manufacturing Charlotte Allen has thrown herself into her Apprenticeship from day one, and following on from her last blog, Charlotte updates up on what’s she’s been up to these past few months:
“So, where to begin? I am now eight months into my apprenticeship with Alpha Manufacturing and a lot has changed since I first wrote about what it’s like to be an Apprentice. During these past eight months I have attended a number of events such as Careers Fairs with our Apprentice Manager William Davies-Hill to discuss with Year 11 and 10s all about the amazing opportunities that can come from going into an apprenticeship after leaving school. It is so inspiring to speak to the young people, especially girls who are in the same position I was in only a year or so ago, and learn about their opinions on engineering and encourage these girls to take the leap and join myself and so many others in the industry.
“I have also ventured onto the factory floor for the first time since starting the apprenticeship and – wow – there was so much to learn! From spending a week with some of the second-year apprentices making crawling boards for our sister company Bri-Stor Systems, to learning all about how to fit tools into the CNC Punch machines. I have also had the privilege of working inside the brand-new Chemical Technologies factory under the supervision of the manager Justin Kelly, getting an insight to all the ground-breaking work that is going to be taking place in the factory and helping set up production ready for June.
“During the Easter Holidays, us first year apprentices took the annual trip to Elan Valley. It was a fantastic week full of team building exercises to really get us working better as a group. We climbed our fair share of Dames, attempted to build a raft to get across the river and lots of orienteering activities. On our last day we helped the local nursery spruce up their outside garden space. It was such a pleasure to give back to the amazing community and give the children a new and improved space to spend their time.
“On a personal note, I finished the week off very happy as I finally passed my driving test- so no more early mornings and coach trips to the JCB Academy for me. Hooray!
“Meanwhile at the JCB Academy, I have started my welding course – I definitely think a master class with Alpha’s very own pro welder Chloe Sales is needed! It’s great to be able to look back from where I started and really see the progress, I’ve made from being scared to make mistakes to learning from them every single day with the help from our tutors. I have loved every second of the courses so far and I am sure it will only grow for the months left to come.”
