Fylde students lead in nuclear awards

Students from Blackpool and The Fylde College were among the winners when Westinghouse Springfields Fuels Ltd held its annual Skills Awards Day at its Fylde site at Salwick.

The awards aim to recognise young employees who have either earned their apprenticeship or achieved academic success in higher education during the past year.

A total of 13 different categories were presented during the ceremony and B&FC students performed well across a range of areas, while the coveted Westinghouse Guild Trophy for the Apprentice of the Year went to 21-year- old Tom Woods from Cleveleys.

Following the ceremony, engineering lecturer Daniel Buckley said: “For so many of our students to excel at an international company like Westinghouse shows the quality of the training in technical and professional education the College provides.

“However, it is also a testament to the hard work these highly-skilled individual students put in when they are recognised with industry awards such as these.

“Hopefully these awards will translate into long and successful careers in the energy industry for all the recipients.”

Tom Woods, 21, from Cleveleys won the Apprentice of the Year title and the Best Apprentice Electrical /Instrumentation.

Vinny Bowker, 23, from Fleetwood won the Best Apprentice Mechanical title.

First year Apprentice Prizes included Heather Lovell, 22, from Bispham who won Best Engineering Skills Award.

Keith Tidmarsh, Apprentice Training Manager at Westinghouse Springfields, said: “We have had a long and beneficial relationship with B&FC.

“And we have been sending apprentices to 
study their engineering technical certificates there for more than 25 years, progressing many of those individuals through the Engineering Higher 
National Certificate programmes.

“In more recent years, with the development of B&FC’s degree programmes, Springfields has also had the chance to offer its employees the chance to study engineering degrees part-time.”