AutoRaise launches week-long apprenticeship drive

Coinciding with National Apprenticeship Week (4-8 March), bodyshop magazine charity partner AutoRaise has announced a week-long drive to promote apprenticeships in the industry.

Through its Academy and Cadet programmes, AutoRaise will be making contact with all of the young people the charity regularly interacts with, reminding them about what fantastic opportunities lie ahead for them as an apprentice in the industry.

This activity will include sharing new content, video links and interesting case studies which outline the great journey that some of the current serving apprentices are on. The charity’s engaging ‘Meet the Apprentices’ video – which features interviews with six young apprentices – is expected to resonate strongly with the live Cadets.

On Tuesday 5 March, AutoRaise is hosting a full-day event, with over 60 industry stakeholders converging on EMTEC College in Ruddington for an informative day full of keynote speeches, a tour of EMTEC College and the opportunity to observe current serving apprentices being assessed for selection to represent this year’s World Skills UK Team.

With many repairers in attendance, the charity expects to create some new apprenticeship vacancies and to make sure all quarters of the industry are aware of the charity’s aims, achievements and future plans.

During the remainder of National Apprenticeship Week, through its network partners AutoRaise hopes to reach over 1,000 vehicle repairers and hundreds of young people. AutoRaise CEO Bob Linwood said, ‘National Apprenticeship Week always provides a great platform for businesses to step back and consider the value of employing young talent through apprenticeships. Through the work we are doing, we are ‘blazing a trail’ by raising the awareness of the chronic skills crisis that exists in our market and are making steady progress towards addressing this by helping vehicle repairers to identify and then fill their vacancies with engaged apprentices.’