Young guns - go for it!

Made a mad dash across to Sheffield tonight to present APSE's apprentice awards for Housing and Building Maintenance. It's always an event I look forward too, as this is the area I started out in when I joined local government 25 years ago.

The awards ceremony is packed and it's a great opportunity for the young people to gain some recognition for their outstanding achievements over the past year. APSE have been working with the Construction Youth Trust over the past 18 months to encourage and support women within the industry. This resulted in us passing grants to local authorities of some £60,000 to establish mentoring schemes for young females.

Back to the awards and the winners were:

Female Buiding Skills: Heidi Spivey, Kirklees Council
Female Mechanical and Electrical: Rae Crown, Nottingham City Homes
Male Building Skills: Mitchel Barguss, Neath Port Talbot Council
Male Mechanical and Electrical: David Hunter, Falkirk Council

A great time was had by all 16 who were shortlisted, they were all winners in their own right as over 50 who submitted didn't make it that far.