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Christmas came early for Damar assessor Chris Barnard and MD Jonathan Bourne at a celebration event for 13 members of staff who have successfully completed apprenticeships in customer service with Bolton Primary Care Trust.
The event took place on 1st December, the same day as the team’s early Christmas party.

 Pictured in front of the tree below are the successful apprentices with Chris Barnard.

Some members of staff had initially been a bit nervous about returning to learning after a break but all were delighted to have successfully achieved their qualifications and to have their competence recognised in this way. Staff commented that the programme had helped their confidence at work and that it had improved their understanding of their department’s work.

Jonathan Bourne commented: “we are delighted to see another group of NHS staff successfully completing their apprenticeships. The work that all the learners put in was tremendous and it is great to see how apprenticeships have been of benefit both to individual learners and the team as a whole.”

Our congratulations go to Arshad Kapadia, 23, who has been offered a paralegal apprenticeship with a firm of solicitors in North Manchester. Arshad, who lives in Old Trafford, applied to Damar via the Apprenticeship vacancies website.

When he came in for interview, Arshad spotted that our Get Ready for Work course was the perfect way to improve his chance of getting an apprenticeship. As well as improving his job seeking skills, attending the course enabled Arshad to meet members of Damar’s recuitment team who spotted that his enthusiasm and personality were a perfect fit with the environment at a busy firm of solicitors. Arshad went for interview, was offered the role and starts his new job next week!

Before coming to Damar, Arshad had worked at Trafford Council in a role funded by the Future Jobs Fund. Local government cuts meant that, unfortunately, that role came to an end. We are delighted that we have been able to support Arshad into a full-time, paid job with apprenticeship training and look forward to seeing him progress.

Arshad commented: “Coming on the course massively increased my chances of getting an apprenticeship - I was better prepared for interview and it meant that I found out about vacancies straight away. I am really looking forward to starting my job and hope to qualify as a paralegal in due course. I would recommend the Get Ready for Work course to anyone in Greater Manchester who is aged between 18-24, is currently looking for work and is interested in finding an apprenticeship in an office-based or customer service role.”

Arshad is pictured below in front of the “I love apprenticeships” board at Damar.