2 December 20229 January 2024

Outward Bound: apprentice adventures at Energy Assets

Recently a group of our apprentices took part in an exclusive, fun-packed and educational week-long adventure with The Outward Bound Trust.

The Outward Bound Trust is an educational charity, which aims to help young people with their personal and professional development and “defy their limitations” through learning and adventures in the wild.

Our apprentices came together from across Britain from a variety of disciplines within Energy Assets to have a shared, yet unique experience.

Part of the challenge is that we ask our apprentices to leave their familiar surroundings behind and get out of their comfort zones.  The week-long programme our apprentices embarked on involved an on-site stay at the Outward Bound centre in the picturesque Lake District. The benefits include being able to enjoy the very best of the area’s natural hills and lakes all whilst developing their leadership, communication and teamwork skills. This is done through a wide range of physical activities including mountain treks, wild camping, gorge walking and rock climbing.

Karen Robinson, Head of Human Resources and Business Support said:

“I’m delighted that we’ve continued our partnership with The Outward Bound Trust. This programme provides truly unique opportunities for our apprentices to learn vital skills; which they’ll take into their learning and future careers. It’s a completely new environment to what they might be familiar with for a professional venture, but we believe growth comes from variety and challenges.”

We invited some of our apprentices who attended outward bound this year to share some of their thoughts:

“It was an amazing week that everyone who attended pushed themselves beyond their own expectations and for some conquered fears. To stand back and watch friendships form and confidences build it really filled me with pride and demonstrated we have some great ambassadors for the business.” Said Lyndsey Rushworth, Stock Controller.

Charlotte Bennett, Procurement Coordinator said; “Overall it was an amazing experience, it really challenged me mentally and physically. I learnt a lot about myself and the experience enlightened me to embrace new challenges.”

“Overall I’d say it was an excellent experience, the location was beautiful and the activities were interesting and engaging. For me personally the best thing was the views and the general atmosphere of the wilderness.” – Patrick Potgieter, Apprentice Engineering Support Administrator.

Marc Neubauer, Field Operations Manager said it was “a great action-packed week with a bunch of people that were complete strangers at the start of the week leaving as good friends at the end. I’d defiantly do it again and recommend it to anyone.”

“It was really good, I enjoyed myself and meeting other people and being pushed out of our comfort zones was good as well. I learnt a lot and would definitely recommend it.” Finishes Joe Young, Communications Engineer.

We aim to help provide all our apprentices with the strongest start to their careers in multiple ways. Programmes such as Outward Bound; which provide them with challenges to test their resilience, also help develop a bond with other apprentices embarking on a similar journey that just can’t be mimicked in a traditional office or classroom setting.

We’ve put together a short highlights reel compiling photos from our apprentices from this years adventure, view it below:

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