Next stop, a job for young apprentice on the buses
CRAIG Litchfield always been interested in motor mechanics.
All through school he couldn't wait to get out of the classroom to get his hands dirty.
So when a role came up as an apprentice at Nottingham City Transport's bus depot it seemed like a match made in heaven.
And that's how it has turned out.
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Three years on, he is nearing the end of his three-year apprenticeship and hopes to stay on in a permanent role.
"I've always enjoyed hands-on learning and that's why I wanted to start an apprenticeship when I left school," said Craig, 20, who attended Alderman White School, Bramcote.
"The role at Nottingham City Transport has given me just what I was wanting. I've learned skills that I can take with me everywhere now."
Craig was talking to the Post before today's launch of this year's apprentice recruitment drive, part of our Get Notts Working campaign.
It is the third year we have run the campaign, which delivered 230 apprentice roles last year and 162 in 2011.
This year we are setting our targets much higher – to find 300 posts in 100 days.
We are calling on firms to pledge to take on one or more apprentices and give someone a chance at a job, just as Craig was given a chance at Nottingham City Transport.
Craig, of Toton, is one of six apprentices at the depot in Lower Parliament Street. Along with one other, he has learned to be an auto electrician. There is also an apprentice training to repair body work and three more training as mechanical apprentices.
Craig has learned about everything from head gaskets to starter motors. He plays a vital role in making sure the buses are in top working order.
During his apprenticeship he has studied on fortnightly release courses at bus manufacturer Scania's base in Loughborough.
He said: "I work five days a week. I get to learn all the theory in Loughborough and can then come to the Nottingham depot to put that into practice. It has been a great way of learning a trade."
Graham Smith, engineering manager at NCT, said: "Apprenticeships are a great way of getting new staff in. We have some staff who are reaching retirement age so we get young people in to do their training and then be ready to take over."
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