Holly has been so successful on the traineeship programme that she has recently been offered an apprenticeship position with her employer.
Here, she talks about her journey to get to this point…
“Last year, I took Travel and Tourism and I passed the course at the end of the year. However, I didn’t want to continue on another course and, instead, decided I wanted to do an apprenticeship.
I knew about traineeships, as I had met with Allie Leverton (programme manager) at the end of last year and discussed the possibility of going onto this course, which would fulfil my dream of getting on an apprenticeship. As time went on, though, I guess I buried my head in the sand and did nothing about it.
An opportunity came up for an apprenticeship in my local hairdressers in Braunton and I liked the idea of working in hair and beauty. I remembered all that Allie said in my meeting with her previously and I emailed her to ask for help on how to go about applying.
Allie emailed me back and asked me to go and see her in college. Allie then spoke to the hair and beauty manager at Petroc and set everything up for me. Within a week I was doing maths and English and had the apprenticeship in my local hairdressers.
However, as time went by I decided that hair and beauty wasn’t for me, so I spoke to my boss and explained that I felt this wasn’t for me and thanked her for her opportunity. Again, I was out on a limb and wasn’t sure what to do next.
I contacted Allie again and she called me in to see her at Petroc. We went over all my options and discussed what I wanted to do. Allie always made me feel at ease and listened to what I had to say and what I wanted to achieve.
I am now doing a traineeship at Bright Start and Little Fishes and I can honestly say that I feel more confident within myself and am actually taking in everything that Allie is teaching me. Allie makes the course interesting and fun and makes everyone feel at ease.
I have always felt that I couldn’t achieve in a classroom setting and I would bury my head and I never felt I could speak out in lessons due to feeling shy and worried that I would say the wrong thing and people would laugh at me.
During the short time I have been working with Allie, she has made me feel that I don’t need to feel this way and I can achieve and do well. I honestly think that if I hadn’t have met Allie, I would still be burying my head and doing nothing with my life. So, I’d like to thank Allie for making me realise that I am worth it.
I would highly recommend doing the traineeship course, as I have gained so much from it and Allie has been absolutely amazing and I couldn’t have wished for better help than the help that Allie has given me.”
Holly’s mum has noticed a big difference in Holly over the past few months…
“The transformation in Holly has been quite dramatic. In the short time that she’ been on the traineeship her confidence has grown so much and, for the first time, she’s making plans about her future.
Holly had a tough time at school and was badly bullied, which knocked all her confidence. Eventually she has found someone who believes in her ability and I can’t thank Allie enough for all that she’s done for Holly."