The college celebrated over ten years of working with Anglian Water by hosting an industry showcase day for students.
The occasion also saw learners team up with Claret Civil Engineering to learn new skills and discuss future opportunities.
The event was held at the West Suffolk College Built Environment Campus and brought together employers, tutors and students who were able to work with technology that is used across the sector.
Anglian Water and Claret provide hands-on training and offer progression routes into apprenticeships each year for West Suffolk College and other educational establishments in the Anglian Water region.
Claire Hutchinson is an Early Careers Adviser at Anglian Water. Claire said: “We sponsor two courses at West Suffolk College in groundsworks construction and we recruit students from those courses as apprentices to work for some of our partner companies such as Claret Civil Engineering. This event was about showing students new techniques and how we operate more generally.
Claire added: “We have had a relationship for more than ten years with the college and it’s something we intend to grow in the future.”
Jamie Basham, Operations Manager at Claret Civil Engineering, was delighted to be able to support the college and highlighted the value of apprenticeships: “We are here today to show students what we do and who we are as a company. We have supported this apprenticeship scheme for ten years and 15% of our company are apprentices. So, for us, it’s about helping young people get a career and move forwards in life. Taking on apprentices is a must.” Steve Murray from West Suffolk College has seen first-hand how valuable the partnership is for students. Steve said: “The value of this is for students to gain an apprenticeship. We had eight apply to Anglian Water partner companies last year and eight got apprenticeships. A massive thanks to Anglian Water, Claret and all of industry supporters for passing on their experiences and giving our students opportunities.”
Darius Russell, 19, from Bury is studying Level 2 Construction Groundsworks and Reinstatement at West Suffolk College. He said, “I’ve learnt the importance of working as a team and the varied roles available in this industry. It has given me more optimism about my future. I hope to get a job out of this.”
For Sam Smith, 18, from Mildenhall, who is also studying the Level 2 Groundworks course at West Suffolk College added, “The day was exciting, informative and intriguing.”
Stuart Spiteri-Nobbs, Course Director for General Construction Operations at the College of West Anglia, who brought along 8 students, also emphasised the impact on students: “It’s really putting it out there to the students that there is a pathway for them into a career in construction.”
