Now in the second year of their Modern Apprenticeships with Berwickshire Housing Association, Charley Hall and Katie Young are gaining the knowledge, understanding and skills required to work in Scotland’s housing sector.
The BHA Apprenticeship is a two-year bespoke apprenticeship which has given these two Berwickshire youngsters an opportunity to complete both a specialised Housing Modern Apprenticeship alongside a more generic Modern Apprenticeship in Business Administration which will provide them with the skills to work in an administration role in any industry.
This combination of qualifications will hopefully give Charley and Katie a wider range of opportunities in the future.
They are now six months in to the second year of their Apprenticeship and both are enjoying the fact that they are experiencing very different aspects of working for BHA this year.
In year one, Charley successfully completed her Housing Modern Apprenticeship while Katie successfully completed her Business Administration Modern Apprenticeship. Both successfully completed their CIH Level 2 Certificate in Housing Practice after attending a number of training sessions in Glasgow last year.
In addition to this, both attended an ‘Assertiveness’ course in November along with 10 other current and former Apprentices from BHA, Eildon Housing, Waverley Housing and SBHA. The ‘Assertiveness’ training received very positive feedback from all apprentices who attended and Charley and Katie felt it was a good way to meet other young people in the same sector within our region. It was a very engaging session and the trainer, Gordon Robertson, had some really interesting strategies on building rapport and being assertive in a variety of situations and he made the training very entertaining.
In year 2 of her Apprenticeship Katie has spent a good deal of time working with Development manager Colin Young and Development Officer Kim Aitchison and which she found very interesting and enjoyed being out and about across the various sites.
Katie is now settling in to Housing Services and is thoroughly enjoying working in reception.
“I enjoy the fact that every phone call brings something different and I’m being kept very busy helping our tenants,”
said Katie who is now well over half-way to completion of her Housing Modern Apprenticeship.
The only unit Katie has not yet started is ‘Respond to customer requests for repairs’ so her next move will be to Technical Services where she will learn how to do this in order to gain the skills required for the final stages of her Apprenticeship.
Charley is experiencing very different aspects of working for BHA this year too and has settled in well to Corporate Services and Finance, learning how these teams support the work of the organisation.
She has had a varied workload and has been organising meetings and lunches and providing admin support across both departments. She is already close to completing her Business Administration Modern Apprenticeship and has been providing all the necessary evidence to ensure successful, on-target completion.
Charley explained:
“During the 18 months of my apprenticeships so far I have enjoyed the great variety of work and have been inspired, supported and encouraged all along the way by my managers and colleagues.”
In addition to her work in Corporate Services and Finance since September, Charley has also supported our Technical Services and Housing teams at times which is testament to how much she learned within these teams in year one of her apprenticeship.
BHA’s Chief Executive Helen Forsyth said:
“We are delighted to have regular opportunities for Modern Apprenticeships at BHA. Over the years our apprentices have all gone on to permanent jobs. It is a fantastic way to allow young people to get to know the opportunities we and the other employers in the Borders offer.
We are looking to the future and we want talented young people to come and work with us. Our present apprentices are no exception both Charlie and Katie are showing real enthusiasm and talent and we are very proud of their achievements.”