Kingdom Housing Association trainees have been commended for their presentation at a Scottish-wide Apprentice Challenge event.

Three trainees took part in the event in Glasgow organised by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations to allow them to meet and work with apprentices from other organisations and disciplines from across the housing sector.

Trainees Richard Miller, Abi Fox and Parveen Haider are part of Kingdom’s trainee programme which was recently recognised with a Fife Business Award for ‘developing the young workforce’.

At the Glasgow event, the trainees were split into groups and provided with a topical subject, on which they had to prepare a presentation for an assembled audience of housing professionals, who also voted for the best presentation on the day.

All trainees acquitted themselves well, and Kingdom’s Abi and Richard were part of the team voted to have given the best presentation at the conference.

Matthew Busher, Kingdom’s head of housing said: “Richard, Abi and Parveen all took leading roles in their group presentations and came across well as individuals, as well as representing Kingdom very well. It is very pleasing that Richard and Abi, who were in the same group, were judged to have given the best presentation as voted for by the assembled housing professionals.”

Richard commented: “The Apprentice Challenge was a unique experience and it was great to get the opportunity to work with a variety of other apprentices, from a wide range of roles across the country.”

He added: “The day started with each of the apprentices being assigned a group and then being allocated a challenge. Abi and I were assigned to Team 1 and our challenge was ‘How we can better attract young people to the Housing Sector?’

“We had just 3- 4 hours to create our presentation, before pitching in the afternoon to housing delegates, who would then vote on the winner. It was a bit daunting on such short notice, but I am very pleased that our group won.”

Abi also enjoyed the experience. She said: “I have gained a lot from my traineeship already and I’ve only been here a few months. I have been able to synchronise my university course with tasks on the job which has really helped me take things in.

“For example, I learnt about the stages of a new housing scheme whilst spending time in Kingdom’s Development team. I’ve also been able to access different training events throughout Fife on relevant subjects. Every day is different and I’ve already met so many interesting people from all walks of life.”

Bill Banks, group chief executive with Kingdom, has been impressed by the calibre of the trainees.

He said: “The enthusiasm and dedication our trainees demonstrate on a day to day basis is commendable and they have all embraced the trainee programme and are doing excellent work, both with their studies and the work they undertake within the association. I’d like to congratulate our trainees and all the others who participated, in the recent apprentice event.”

Bill added: “Investing in young people is very important to us and our trainee programme which started three years ago is already starting to show real benefits.”

*Kingdom is about to launch its 2018 training programme when it will be recruiting a further intake of trainees, who are looking to start a career in Housing, Customer Services, Customer Accounts or Organisational and Executive Support, along with a further electrician apprenticeship.

The programme provides opportunities for enthusiastic, hard-working young people to train, for 3 or 4 years through a mix of work-based and college-based learning, gaining qualifications and valuable work experience in the chosen field.