RCHT apprentices celebrated at Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards

It was an outstanding night for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals at last week’s Cornwall Apprenticeship awards, coming away with three top prizes and two highly commended awards.

RCHT was shortlisted in 5 of the 18 categories, including Large Employer of the Year (Highly commended), Workplace Mentor of the Year (Highly commended for Helen Williams), Construction and Trade (won by James Angliss, Chartered Surveyor apprentice), Health, Care and Public Services (won by Rebecca Hirst, Physiotherapy Apprentice), and Apprentice of the Year (also won by James Angliss)

The awards are open to all apprentices, apprenticeship employers and mentors across Cornwall and cover a range of professional categories including construction, engineering, management, marketing, and business. Judging the awards was a panel of industry leaders from a range of large and medium employers from Cornwall and across the UK.

Nikki Pryke, Apprenticeship Lead for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, attended the ceremony. Speaking about the success of RCHT, Nikki said:

“This was an amazing result for our teams and apprentices. This was the first time the awards have been held at the Eden Project, which made the ceremony feel extra special. We were delighted to see so many apprentices recognised from RCHT.”

On the Royal Cornwall Hospitals being highly recommended as Large Employer of the Year, Nikki added:

“It’s an outstanding recognition. It really highlights the level of work we’ve seen from everyone involved across RCHT, including our apprentices, the mentors who support them, the supervisors, and my own colleagues in the Learning and Development team. It’s a tribute to the dedicated work of our apprentices, as well as to how well we support them, and how well we support other organisations across Cornwall. It’s been fantastic to see the success at this year’s awards. We really hope this will help us to attract more people to take on an apprenticeship at RCHT and across the wider NHS.”

James Angliss, degree-level chartered surveyor apprentice, was not only presented the Construction and Trade Occupations Apprentice of the Year but also the coveted title of Cornwall’s Apprentice of the Year 2024.

James joined RCHT as a Level 2 Construction Apprentice in 2017 after facing medical health challenges. Displaying a huge level of tenacity and work ethic, he went on to achieve two promotions in just three years before moving onto his chartered surveying apprenticeship, where he’s been involved in project managing the delivery of a multi-million-pound breast screening equipment replacement programme.

James said:

“The Apprentice of the Year is awarded to the apprentice with the highest scoring nomination. I’m absolutely thrilled, chuffed, I never expected this, thank you to the judges and congratulations to everyone who was nominated.”

Transformation Lead Helen Williams was Highly Commended as Workplace Mentor of the Year. Helen explains:

“It was a great surprise to be nominated. I felt very privileged to receive a nomination from Sarah, an apprentice in my team. The whole team has been incredibly supportive and are incredibly proud of the result. It’s been an honour to be on this journey with Sarah and I think it’s something that all of us in the team have learned a great deal from.”

The exceptional work of colleagues across RCHT was further highlighted by the successes of Rebecca Hirst, Physiotherapist apprentice, who won the Health, Care and Public Services Apprentice of the Year.

Rebecca said:

“The apprenticeship has been such a wonderful opportunity. I love learning new things and meeting new people, so the apprenticeship has been a terrific way to get new experience and learning through placements. Not getting the GCSEs I needed from school, going into an apprenticeship has been vital in giving me the skills and experience I needed to pursue a career in the NHS. RCHT has given me the tools and the confidence to continue this journey, and it’s been amazing to be able to progress and to be recognised for this.”