LINDSAY McCurdy is the founder of Apprenticships4England and an ambassador for the awards.
She works with providers and young people to promote apprenticeships.
But her main message is that young people want to learn from other young people when deciding on their career paths.
“We put so much pressure on young people that they must get their grades and they must go to university,” she said.
“But young people need to find as much as they can from other young people. We need younger people going into schools and it is no good just relying upon a careers advisor.
“A lot of older people cannot relate to the young because the world really has changed so much.”
Lindsay runs her own annual awards events and believes that they play an important part in raising awareness of the choices that are available.
She brings many years of experience in senior management roles to her work with apprentices drawing on expertise in the field of training and development.
Lindsay is a supporter of the apprenticeship levy and hopes that it will be introduced as soon as is practicable.
This is a Government measure that will require companies above a certain size to pay a levy to support the goal of getting more apprenticeships.
“I hope that the levy goes ahead, it’s not going to be stopped forever, it’s going to go ahead,” she said.
The apprenticeship levy requires all employers operating in the UK, with a pay bill over £3 million each year, to make an investment in apprenticeships.
