Heartbeat: Mandy Healy recognised in Outstanding Apprentice of the Year Awards

September 5, 2019

Hard work and determination has seen Maternity Support Worker, Mandy Healy recognised at the apprenticeship awards.

Mandy was runner up for the Outstanding Apprentice of the Year Award. Her recognition meant she got to visit parliament where she met the Minister of Skills to discuss with others how they felt about apprenticeships, how they could be improved and how to raise the profile of the apprenticeship scheme.

Mandy said: “When I came as a domestic, I loved my job but I knew there was more that I could offer.”

At first it wasn’t easy to gain the training she wanted, her requests were declined, but undeterred she took the initiative to approach Tony Lewis, suggesting that she could undertake the training in her own time. Her request was granted and soon she had started her Health and Social Care level 2 apprenticeship. She quickly moved on to Health and Social Care level 3 and kept on going with her development.

Mandy has been on the apprenticeship scheme since 2016 gaining various qualifications including her Functional Skills level 1 and 2. “I just thought, I want to learn the skills that are going to make me good at my job” she said.

Mandy has been nominated for a number of awards and with the support and encouragement of the Learning and Development team, she has been pushed to go further with her development. All of this has been made possible through her PDR, in which she has consistently scored highly, prompting the Learning and Development team to ask her to really consider where she would like her career to go. She commented: “I’m so lucky, but it’s also because of my PDR. I’ve always told them that I wanted training and they’ve always taken it on board”.

Being nominated and chosen as runner up for the Outstanding Apprentice of the Year Award meant Mandy also got to visit parliament where she met the Minister of Skills to discuss with others how they felt about apprenticeships, how they could be improved and how to raise the profile of the apprenticeship scheme.

Mandy is grateful for the opportunities that have opened up to her through the pursuit of her professional development and is excited about where it will take her next.  She is also keen to highlight the support and development opportunities that are available and is enthusiastic about colleagues accessing those resources. Mandy said: “People think apprenticeships are just for school-leavers, but it doesn’t matter about age, the Trust will give you the training if you keep going at it”.