Take a look at some of our journeys

Gary Bage, Operational Departmental Manager, Level 5

Gary joined Darlington Borough Council in 1993 as an Apprentice Service Engineer.  and worked his way up to Service and Repairs Manager for Corporate Landlord. In 2021, he joined the Level 5 Operational Departmental Manager Apprenticeship to support his management development.

Gary was the first candidate to go through the new Level 5 End Point Assessment for the Operational Departmental Apprenticeship. He gained a distinction for his project, presentation and interview on the ‘Planned Refurbishment of communal areas within Local Authority Residential Housing Schemes’ - a real working project within his department.

Gary said: “Enrolling on this qualification was initially daunting, however, all of my fears were eradicated once I started. The help, advice and support from my tutor and my peers was greatly appreciated and was a great help in me successfully passing this qualification. I am immensely proud of this achievement and will take all of the knowledge and skills I’ve learnt and use them to progress in my career.

Jake Towns, Team Leader Supervisor, Level 3

Jake joined the ACCESS team at Darlington Borough Council as a Public Health Outreach Support Worker, and started the Team Leader Supervisor apprenticeship in September 2022. 

Initially Jake felt out of his depth with the academic writing style as it had been a while since he had been in a classroom. Within a couple of months, he had developed his skills and confidence in this area. His Manager also supported him to undertake additional professional training and access shadowing opportunities with other local authorities.

In January 2023 Jake was promoted to Criminal Justice Lead within  the ACCESS team. A month later was made acting team leader. One year on, he successfully gained a management position as Young Persons Team Leader for WithYou (Stride).

He recently completed his Team Leader Apprenticeship gaining a distinction grade.

Jake said: “Before starting my Apprenticeship I had not completed any vocational courses for over 10 years. I was unsure what to expect but my tutor Amanda quickly laid out the the course requirements and provided on-hand support for any queries or worries I had. The course helped me to increase in confidence and inspired me to continue to develop and look at future opportunities – giving me a better understanding of management and how it works in my sector.”

Louisa Beal, Early Years Educator, Level 3 Apprenticeship

Louisa started her journey in childcare and education straight from school. She went to college to do a level 2 qualification andattended a local nursery school for work experience before  applying for a level 3 apprenticeship with them.

During her apprenticeship Lousia gained a range of qualifications and training experiences. Shehas now gained a full-time position in another nursery. Her long-term ambition is to work on cruise ships with children. 

Lousia said: “I chose to do an apprenticeship as I wanted to learn practical skills while doing coursework and earning an income. I wanted to be in a workplace instead of being in college full time.  The apprenticeship helped me to be fully qualified in the career of my choice and make connections with different people. I also gained confidence and hands on experience. To someone thinking of an apprenticeship I would say to have a go. It can be hard, but it is worth it at the end. You must start at the bottom and work your way up, but if you stick with it, you can end up having a fantastic career and earn a very good wage.”

Jamellia Greenhough-Lee, Business Administration L3 Apprenticeship

After gaining three A-levels Jamellia realised that university wasn’t the route she wanted to take. She worked part-time in retail for a few months before applying for office jobs, including some apprenticeships. 

Jamellia was successfully appointed as a Business Administrator Apprentice with Darlington Borough Council (DBC) Housing Department in October 2022. After just 11 months she secured a full-time position as an advisor with Learning & Skills. She has now passed her apprenticeship - securing a distinction for assisting in the planning and development of National Apprenticeship Week 2024.  She was also nominated and shortlisted as a finalist at the Strong Community Awards in the Vocational Excellence category.

Jamellia said “I have gained significant transferable skills which I can use in my future career. The staff who work at the Coleridge centre are very supportive and made amendments to my personal training to allow for me to deal with some issues outside of the work and training environment’.

Gemma Whitehead, Business Administrator L3 Apprenticeship

Gemma always aspired to have a career within  finance andaccounts.

Working within Freeman Johnson whilst completing her Level 2 Business Administrator Apprenticeship course enabled Gemma to further her skills and gain work experience.

After a year, she was promoted to the accounts department. She was asked by her employers if she would like to carry on and do her level 3 qualification which she has now completed.  Gemma’s employers are now funding her to undertake  an AAT course to expand on her accountancy knowledge and qualifications.

Gemma said: “ The tutors from Learning & Skills provided a lot of support, for which I am very grateful.”

She also praised the peer support she received in the workplace, especially from those in her office.

Greg Smith, Moorlands Care Home Manager

"At Moorlands we often use Darlington Borough Council to recruit apprentices for our vacancies. The reason we use apprentices is that we have always found them very keen and willing to learn from the outset. It also allows us to train them in our ways of working, in line with our company ethos. Sometimes people with prior experience in the sector already have established ways of working and it can be difficult to incorporate this into our business and practices.

“Another positive is seeing them grow in confidence, not just within their work, but also in day to day life due to the experience they’re gaining in the workplace.

“The apprentice wage rate also helps us to ensure more in depth and one to one training is given, without worrying about the financial constraints it has on the business. Overall this leads to a more competently trained member of staff."