Wigan college salutes apprentices at annual awards night

The lavish event was staged at The Edge and was hosted by TV Magician Ben Hanlin who entertained the audience with his audacious tricks as well as announcing the award-winners.

A range of employers, both big and small attended the spectacular event including Wigan Council, Redrow Homes, Electricity North West and Sellafield Ltd.

Sectors that celebrated awards were digital marketing, retail, business, administration, nuclear engineering, hairdressing, motor vehicle, food manufacturing and electrical installation.

Wigan and Leigh College principal Anna Dawe said: “What an amazing occasion to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our apprentices who have excelled in their industries. We are proud of them all and it was fantastic to hear the inspirational and positive words from their

employers about how well they have each done.

“I would also like to thank all of the employers who we work with to forge great business relationships to harness the power of apprenticeships; working collectively to support our apprentices.”

Neil Tonge, housing standards manager at Wigan Council, was at the event to receive an award on behalf of his apprentice Adam Feeley who won the Business Administration Apprentice of the Year.

Neil said: “I’m really excited to be here. It’s a good event and I’m really impressed with everything. It’s a special night and I’m really happy to be getting the award for Adam – he deserves the recognition.”

Isobel Campbell won two awards for her work at Danbro Group including Digital Marketing Apprentice of the Year as well as the overall Apprentice of the Year.

Isobel said: “When the overall apprentice of the year award was mentioned, I genuinely did not expect to win! However, it just shows that hard work really does pay off!

“Doing an apprenticeship has helped in not only my career but also my personal development in multiple ways. From developing my social, organisational, decision, creative skills and so on. I would recommend the apprenticeship pathway to anybody who is thinking about doing it.”

The ceremony was also an opportunity to celebrate the college’s employer partners and their achievements in supporting apprentices.