Celebrating our Apprentice, Zoe
Hello, my name is Zoe and I am an apprentice for the Starting Blocks/Bright Futures project ran between York Cares and The City of York council, alongside working with the Bright Futures project I also work within the volunteering team at CYC. The first role that I do, the Bright Futures project is working alongside care experienced young people and adults to help gain knowledge and behaviours they need to secure employment and improve their life chances. Within the volunteering role I work with volunteers matching them up with young people who are there to befriend, influence and support them as an independent person that they can build a relationship with. I am also involved in the children in care council which is called ‘show me that I matter’ in which a number of young people come together once a month and make changes to the council and foster care system to make a real difference with the system.
I applied for this apprenticeship as I have always wanted to work with young people in foster care, I wanted to help make a difference to other people’s lives and give them chances and opportunities that they may not have received without our support. I am able to also work alongside a variety of professionals allowing me to learn new things all the time and gain so many new experiences, not only this but I am also able to gain a business management qualification at the end of it by doing something I really enjoy that will help me in the future.
The best part of my role is working directly with the young people, I enjoy creating those relationships with them enabling them to come to you with anything they may want to speak about. Being able to have a helping hand in their futures, giving them chances and showing them they are able to achieve anything they want by the support you give them is also very rewarding. As I work in two different teams I am able to gain knowledge and experience from many different professionals which allows me to learn new things all the time, not only this, but allow me to shadow individuals from different teams which helps to know which type of career I would like to go into in the future.
My advice for anyone considering an apprenticeship is make sure you make the most of every professional you are able to work with, ask questions, shadow people and really make the most of the work environment you are in. If you are stuck, need help or want to know anything ask someone, ensure you know who you can go too if you need advice or help and enjoy it!
