The winners of the first ever BPEC Awards for Excellence have been unveiled following a virtual awards ceremony. The industry training and assessment provider partnered with APHC and SNIPEF to launch the awards, sponsored by Monument Tools, to reward plumbing and heating students, apprentices and tutors who have excelled over the past 18 months.
The ceremony was hosted by BPEC’s CEO Neil Collishaw and all the winners received personalised tools from Monument Tools, gift vouchers, a winner’s certificate and BPEC training manuals. There were four categories of awards and the winners were announced as follows:
Best Use of Technology in the Delivery of Plumbing Training
• Jon Conlon (South Gloucestershire and Stroud College)
• David Warren (West Suffolk College)
‘Jon developed online lessons which were interactive covering theory and practical during lockdown and secured devices for apprentices who did not have access to the technology, so they didn’t fall behind’.
‘David took the bold move to place cameras in the classroom for what he called 10:10 sessions. Ensuring social distancing, 10 students attended in the classroom, while 10 students attended remotely through MS Teams. Sessions were recorded which meant that students were able to revisit or watch the lesson later if they were unable to access IT equipment’.
Best Plumbing Trainer in the Workplace
• Matthew Mellor (SMART Gas Training & Assessment)
‘Matt integrates real-life stories into his sessions. During the pandemic, he was always contactable, ensuring learners never missed out on work and that their boss was happy with the skills and knowledge taught, giving learners the tools and drive needed to complete their apprenticeship, and taking an interest in the learners well-being as well’.
Making a Difference in the Community
• Kevin Kidd (James Frew Ltd)
‘Kevin makes a significant difference to the plumbing community by developing several additional units of learning to complement the apprenticeship programme, including sessions on important topics such as Money Matters, Mental Health Awareness, Healthy Eating and Fitness. Kevin places importance on the wellbeing of apprentices and commissioned a theatre play on suicide prevention to reinforce the impact of positive mental health, which was received well by apprentices and managers. Kevin is an ambassador for his organisation, he engages well in sector attractiveness activities in schools which helps to improve the image of the building services industry’.
Best Plumbing Apprentice/Trainee
• John Murray (works for Martyn Ritchie Plumbing and is trained at North East Scotland College)
• Iain Winnard (works for Blair Plumbing & Heating Solutions and attends Glasgow Clyde College)
‘John found work with a local company as an adult apprentice, agreeing to pay his own college fees. Due to John’s employer passing away, John lost his job, but undeterred, he found another employer who allowed him to carry on his apprenticeship. He is an extremely dedicated student who delivers good quality theory and practical work and is now in his third year of his apprenticeship and about to undertake his ACS assessments’.
‘Like many other apprentices, Iain had to adapt to working during the pandemic, has excelled and not only has he achieved his Modern Apprenticeship in Domestic Plumbing & Heating qualification he has also been sharing and helping others to do the same by offering advice and support. during the pandemic Iain volunteered to do a week long case study ‘A Week in the Life of an Apprentice Plumber’ which was heavily promoted by SNIPEF during Scottish Apprenticeship week to promote the plumbing & heating industry and to encourage more people to become plumbers but also to encourage more plumbing businesses to recruit businesses to recruit and apprentice’.
BPEC Group Chairman, Duncan Wilson, has commented on his pride in the winners: “We were delighted by the fantastic response to the first BPEC Awards for Excellence and very impressed by the exceptional standard of the entries. The quality of all the nominations was so high that it was difficult to choose the winners, as all those shortlisted are excellent ambassadors for our industry.”
BPEC would also like to thank Monument Tools for supporting the event and also all those students, apprentices and tutors who entered.
