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Sara’s journey to becoming this year’s winner started when she was chosen by Surrey County Council to represent them at the event.
The 2024 Local Government Apprentice of the Year was won by Sara Jenner-Akehurst, a Level 3 Business Administrator Apprentice from Cambridgeshire County Council.
Sara originally applied for the event in the hope of being able to network with other apprentices, whilst also pushing herself out of her comfort zone. With assistance from the event organisers, Sara was able to get the support she required for her disabilities to make the event accessible for her. With the necessary support in place, Sara was then able to focus on her pre-event preparation which was to research this year’s theme - health and wellbeing.
It was really great to see how different teams came up with completely different ideas and views
During the event, the apprentices completed several activities including generating ideas about a Council’s priorities on their health and wellbeing provision, generating a range of creative ideas and innovative solutions to tackle the challenges. When it came to the theme of the event, Sara describes how home-hitting it was for her on a personal level as a disabled apprentice, due to her firsthand experience in accessing health and wellbeing services. Sara described how hearing all the different ideas generated and seeing them then illustrated live was the part of the event that she enjoyed the most.
Despite her initial concerns regarding her ability to engage with other apprentices during the event, Sara explains how the activities enabled her to demonstrate her own skills and knowledge. Also, the tasks provided her with an opportunity to come up with her own ideas, highlight issues and give personal insight which she feels helped build her own confidence.
I think the event has allowed me to become more confident in my abilities as well as being able to talk to new people more freely
When asked how it felt being crowned the winner, Sara said, “Shocked and surprised that I had won! I felt so much more confident and prouder of myself.” As she now looks to the future, Sara has reflected on what she was able to take away from the event, for example, she now believes she should be more confident in her abilities as she has shown herself that she is able to work in a team, share her views and engage well with new people. Sara is now focusing on completing her apprenticeship in November and securing a permanent role with Cambridgeshire County Council.
Sara’s top three tips for apprentices thinking of attending in 2025 are:
- Try to be confident enough to involve yourself as it will help you further enjoy the event
- Take the time to listen to all members within the team, if you’re confident enough, try to involve other people as well
- Try and have fun with it! Keep an open mind and stay positive.