Building Confidence!
We took time out this week to catch up with Property Maintenance Apprentice Euan in his busy building programme!
Under the watchful eye of Builder Ben, Euan has been blossoming. For the last four months, Euan has turned his attention to the complete refurbishment of the Old Cow Byre West building, which has given him the opportunity to hone a whole range of skills.
From stud walls to fire safety compliance in walls, Euan has transferred skills he has learnt from his course into real action. Luckily working at heights is no problem, when fixing the leaky roof. He rather enjoys the view from on high! Pressure washing the whole of the inside and removing the paint to expose the old timbers, may have taken a long time, but now the timbers are oiled for protection, they look really smart. Putting in three new windows and creating the new doorway, as well as transforming the toilets and adding some new lighting, were just part of the job, which Euan took in his stride. But there was a lot of painting, both inside and out!
Euan is “really chuffed with the results”. Might well he be proud! “The hardest part was the planning of all the different tasks and making sure I got the sequence right”. But this has really helped Euan’s confidence and he’s now contributing his own ideas in work discussions with Ben.
This confidence boost was never more apparent that when Builder Ben was out of action for a couple of weeks and it was Euan who stepped up to run the project! Managing a colleague has also helped Euan understand the importance of communication and has found it “a valuable lesson to explain things properly at the start”. But he’s always happy to offer advice and answer questions as “it keeps me on my toes”!
Alongside all the practical experience, Euan has been filming himself demonstrating his new-found skills, like door hanging, and adding these to his study portfolio for his tutor to monitor progress – an essential part in getting his final qualification.
We look forward to seeing more of Euan’s skills in action as he now tackles the long list of maintenance jobs around the Brewery. We’re in safe hands!
If you are interested in finding out more about our Apprenticeship scheme, register your interest.
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