Apprenticeships within Cestria

Andrew has been an apprentice Gas Engineer with Cestria for over 2 years, and works on a daily basis with our tenants. Before starting with Cestria, Andrew gained his GCSE’s at school, and since starting at Cestria, he has since gained his NVQ level 2 and is working towards his NVQ level 3. He attends college one day a week to do this. Andrew said : “I find the job challenging, but working with experienced supervisors helps me to know that I have the confidence to do my job properly. Being able to install a boiler and to know that this will help a customer is a great feeling to get in a days work.”

A typical day in the life of an Apprentice Gas Engineer:

• "8:30am – Start the day by meeting up with my supervisor and heading out to the morning appointments that the Building Services Team has arranged. The morning appointments usually include servicing boilers or installing them. I do this on my own but my supervisor checks that everything is done properly.
• 12:00pm – Lunch Break!!
• 12:30pm – Start the afternoon with going to any appointments to service or install boilers. If we get any emergency calls then we have to see to them. Normally we have 2 emergencies a day so its not too hectic!
• 4:30pm – Finish the days appointments and get dropped off at home."

Ross is our newest apprentice but has already become quickly part of the Cestria family. While at college, Ross gained NVQ levels1,2 and 3 and is now participating in an 18 month programme of in-house training and development. Ross works with other joiners and works with a team currently on a fencing project in Sacriston.

A typical day in the life of an Apprentice Joiner:

• "7.30am – we arrive at work and pick the van up. We then go to the depot and load the van up so we are ready for the day. Normally we take everything that we will need for the day so that we don’t have to keep going back!
• 8.00am – we head off to Sacriston to work on the fencing project up there. We need to take down the old fences and replace them with new ones so that the site looks a lot better.
• 12.00pm – Lunch
• 12.30pm – We keep working on the fencing project. You can see the difference we’ve made already to the area.
• 3.30 we finish up and arrive back at the Bowes Offices to drop the van back and then head home for the day."

Antony has been with us since November 2010 and has been working with our Gardener and Community Caretaker team. Whilst working at Cestria, Antony has started Houghall College where he attends one day a week and is working towards his NVQ level 2. Working as part of a team of 7, normal tasks include planting trees and plants, pruning and generally helping out around the Cestria Community. Antony was probably one of the team you saw helping to make the roads a lot easier to drive on!

 A typical day in the life of an Apprentice Gardener:

• "8.00am – load the van up and head off to the first site of the day. We have to check the schedule to see what we need to do, so that we can bring the right tools along. Sometime’s we’ll need a big grass cutter, other we’ll only need hand tools so we have to be prepared. We work on shrub beds and cutting grass for tenants, as well as other activities that the tenants would like done with their gardens.
• 12.00pm – lunch break
• 12.30pm – Move on to the next site and carry out whatever work needs to be done. If we do a good job, sometimes we get a cup of tea and a biscuit which is always really appreciated – especially at the moment with the weather being so cold!
• 3.30pm – we finish up on the task that we were working on and load up the van to finish up. We head back to the Bowes Offices and drop the van off before going home."