Gen2 apprentices have been showcasing their skills at the Gen2 Apprentice Challenge Grand Final this week.

The event would normally be part of Gen2’s National Apprenticeship Week celebration, held in February but this year the event was delayed, due to Covid.

Over 250 Gen2 apprentices have taken part in a number of challenges set to test their engineering and entrepreneurial skills.

An impressive 38 teams from across Gen2 centres in Workington, Carlisle and Furness have been completing challenges which were showcased at the Gen2 Grand Final on Tuesday 29th March.

The challenges covered:

Entrepreneurial challenge in which the apprentices were given a starting budget of £250 and had to develop a sustainable business with profits going to a local charity;

Carbon Zero Energy challenge in which the apprentices were tasked with creating an item powered by an alternative or carbon zero energy source.

Engineering sculpture which was designed to showcase the engineering abilities of the Gen2 learners.

Classroom Resource challenge – in which the teaching assistant apprentices were tasked with creating a story sack for their pupils which was fun and engaging but with a theme which left a useful message with the children.

In addition, a Robot Wars challenge was held as well as a skills challenge to test the skills of the electrical apprentices.

Over 350 people attended the Grand Final at Gen2’s Head Office in Workington, with many senior people from local businesses and local authorities supporting the students. The master of ceremonies for the event was City & Guilds CEO, Kirstie Donnelly, MBE.

Amanda Towers, Gen2’s Managing Director said “This apprentice challenge grand final is extremely important to Gen2 as it provides a great opportunity to bring together our learners from across the county, showcase their skills and celebrate their achievements with our apprentice employers.

The apprentices invest many hours to develop their challenge entries and have a real sense of personal pride in what they produce. The challenges provide an ideal platform to work in teams across their disciplines and help them understand about budgeting, sourcing resources, time management, production and presentation skills.

This year was our largest ever Grand Final and it was rewarding to see our challenge teams, supported by so many employers. The skills our learners have showcased today are testament to their hard work and dedication to their apprenticeships and clearly demonstrate that through employer investment we will continue to have a highly qualified and skilled workforce in the local area for years to come.”