Eight teams from some of the country’s leading employers are set to battle it out to become the ‘apprentice team of year’ in a new two-month challenge launched at Dorney Lake yesterday.
The Brathay Apprentice Challenge will pit eight teams of apprentices against each other in a range of challenges designed to test young people’s business acumen, team work and even physical endurance.
The teams, which include apprentices from Bentley, the Co-operative, Virgin Media, the National Apprenticeship Service, defence manufacturers MBDA and aerospace firm Cobham, will be joined by a team made up of apprentices who are also GB Junior Rowing Team potentials — supported by Junior World Champion Finalist Jack Beaumont, who gave a speech at the launch.
Following two months of challenges designed to test the teams’ abilities to work together, fundraise for a variety of charities and spread the word about what apprentices can achieve, the Challenge will come to a head with a full day contest at Brathay’s Cumbrian training HQ. Here, the challenges will push the teams’ problem solving skills and physical endurance to the limit as they end the day with a 10-mile whaler boat race across Lake Windermere.
Rower Jack Beaumont said:
“I am proud to be supporting the Brathay Apprentice Challenge. Many athletes who are representing our country, at the highest level, have completed SkillsActive’s Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence and so we know first hand the positive impact Apprenticeships have not just on those who take them, but on wider society.”
Jaine Bolton, Director of the National Apprenticeship Service, welcomed the launch of the challenge.
“In this new era of higher quality Apprenticeships, that are helping the nation’s businesses grow, more needs to be done to recognise the incredible talent and success of the nation’s apprentices.”
There were 457,200 Apprenticeship starts in 2010/11, an increase of 63.5 per cent compared to 2009/10. There were increases at all ages and all levels
In this video, Junior World Championship Finalist Rower, Jack Beaumont, launches the challenge from Dorney Lake, meeting members of the teams who will be taking part in the challenge.
For further information, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk.
