Thirty-Five years Old and Living the Dream
Today I was lucky enough to catch up with Tom at his new place of employment, Wilmslow Leisure Centre. Tom was not your typical apprentice at the age of 35 he had tried many jobs including, Catering, HGV and Retail. Tom could never find the right fit for job satisfaction. After becoming unemployed he saw an advert online for an Apprentice Leisure Team Member (LTM), that brought back memories of his younger days learning to swim at Poynton Leisure Centre. At the time of applying Tom thought he could possibly get a foot in the door and potential employment, so he applied for the apprenticeship in LTM. He was unsure if he would be accepted as he had already been turned down for an apprenticeship saying he was too old! But Everybody Health and Leisure and FLM Training had no hesitation in getting Tom on his apprenticeship.
Tom went on to say that the support he received on his apprenticeship was excellent with a ton of support from Mike his tutor. He said, “I really enjoyed my apprenticeship with my peers Mike and Jayne” (Tutors). I asked Tom what he enjoyed the most and he said, “I enjoyed my courses and Marcus was very supportive on my gym course. As I had always wanted to do the course but never had the opportunity prior to my apprenticeship”. He went on the say that he was unsure initially about the swim teacher aspect but now it’s his full-time job and really enjoying the experience. Tom said,” It has given me the opportunity to see the other venues and meet the other staff and given me confidence and experience that has led to my dream job”.
“Tom has had a great work ethic throughout the apprenticeship. He has struggled with his functional skills, but has improved over the past year with constant perseverance and commitment to completing assignment tasks. He has not let his dyslexia effect his learning and completing the classroom-based work. Tom is happy to contribute to theory tasks and present in front of the group. He has a good understanding of the leisure industry and his working environment. Moving forwards, I feel Tom will be ready to complete level 3 qualifications to support his professional development. It has been a pleasure to teach Tom and I wish him all the best with his career going forwards.” – Mike, Tutor quote.
I asked Tom what his apprenticeship had given him, “Before this apprenticeship I had no qualifications, now I have a gym qualification, Swim teacher, lifeguard and first aid. All these skills give me employment and opportunity to use them in work the workplace. It gives my job variety though I predominately do lifeguard and swim teacher I can cover the gym, reception anytime my manager wants me to”.
I asked Tom would he recommend FLM Training and apprenticeships to his friends, he said – “Definitely, I was always supported even though I was an older apprentice, always treated the same as everyone else and the tutor was very patient with me which is a reflection on what I have achieved’.