Springfield Podcast: Recent Episodes
Dom Harding
Welcome to the Springfield Training Podcast. I am Dom and we wanted to do this podcast so that we can bring you interviews & insights into work-based learning, the skills that you can gain from doing an apprenticeship or just from your general job, what apprenticeships are and how they can be good for the individual and a business and we’re also going to talk about career development.
Brought to you by Springfield Training and hosted by our Deputy CEO Dan Howard, we are thrilled to bring you our next LIVE podcast on all things Diversity within Apprenticeships!
Our main topic of conversation is about the different opportunities to increase diversity in apprenticeships and widening participation, speaking about some of the challenges to this, and the impact of having apprentices from different backgrounds within your business.
Our panelists that will be discussing this important topic are Laura Jayne Rawlings MBE, CEO at Youth Employment UK Lucy Hunte, Senior Apprenticeships Development Manager at NHS England, Sharon Blyfield OBE, Head of Early Careers at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Sak Awan, Director of Employability and Skills at S Knights Recruitment & EPA Hub and Jagdeep Soor, Executive Director at Multicultural Apprenticeship Alliance.
Brought to you by Springfield Training and hosted by our Deputy CEO Dan, we are thrilled to bring to you our post-election podcast!
To help you navigate the potential changes, Springfield Training hosted a LIVE post-election podcast on July 5, 2024, at 11:30am, led by our Deputy CEO, Dan Howard.
We assembled a stellar panel of experts to provide you with immediate insights and post election analysis:
- Alex Miles, Managing Director at Yorkshire Learning Providers
- Simon Ashworth, Director of Policy and Deputy Chief Executive at AELP
- Michael Lemin, Head of Policy at NCFE
- Shane Chowen, Editor at FE Week
- Joseph Lennox, Senior Strategy Advisor at HMRC
Delve into the key issues affecting education and skills right after the election.
We spoke to Lee Reddington who is the Head of Partnership Development at Occupational Awards Limited. We asked him what his job entails and how he got to be where he is today and whether the coronavirus pandemic had an impact on the way that Occupational Awards Limited Work today. We also spoke about the plans for National Apprenticeship Week and whether or not they have had any apprentices at Occupational Awards Limited
In this podcast, we are bringing you something a little different.
We are talking to Christopher Sybenga, who is the G7 Regional Prevent Co-Ordinator for North East Counter Extremism Division & Non Schools Education Division.
We talk about what the terms radicalization, extremism and terrorism mean, what the main influences are that drive people towards being involved in extremist activity and what advice would Chris give to members of the public to increase their awareness of potential terror threats?
We spoke to Bee Johnson about her role at The Little Red Berry Co. and if she is enjoying her apprenticeship course that she is doing with us. We also spoke about where she see's herself in 5 years time.
We spoke to May Foxton who is the Learning and Development Facilitator at Bradbury Group. We spoke about what that job role specifically entails and we spoke in depth about the career opportunities at Bradbury Group. We also spoke about Youth Engineering and what it is that they do and what other profession would May and Jack have gone in to if they didn't do what they did today?
We spoke to Jenni Longden who is the Chief Executive Officer at TEQU. We spoke about her role at TEQU and how she has got to be in the position that she is today. We speak in depth about apprenticeships and how good we think they are as an alternative to University. You don't want to miss this one!
We spoke to Alex Miles who is the Managing Director at Yorkshire Learning Providers. We spoke to her about what the Yorkshire Learning Providers is and what her day to day consists of as well as speaking about the impact that the Coronavirus Pandemic has had on Apprenticeships.
We spoke to Stacey about her life as a runner, how much she trains and how intense it actually is. We also spoke to her about qualifying for the World Championships and how did she actually get in to the position to be able to qualify.
We spoke to Leanne and Sarah about their roles at Springfield Training. We also spoke about the routes that they have taken in their careers and whether they did an apprenticeship or went to university. What would they tell there 16 year old self knowing what they know now about education and also what career path would they go down if they could change careers?
We spoke to Andrea Jenkyns who is the Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood. We spoke to Andrea about what made her want to become an MP, what she loves about her job and how she got to where she is today. We also spoke about what Andrea does in her spare time and how the Coronavirus Pandemic influenced the way that she had to work.
We spoke to Sharon who is the director at Careermap, about her entire career and how she got to where she is today. Moving to the UK in her early twenties from Cincinnati, Ohio, Sharon found herself working as a publisher. We speak about what Careermap is and what they actually do. We also ask Sharon what she enjoys about her job and what career would she choose if she could try another one.
We spoke to the CEO of FDQ Terry Fennell about what FDQ actually stands for and what they actually do. We also spoke about the influence of the Coronavirus Pandemic on apprenticeship delivery. Could Terry have become a famous cricketer back in the day?
We Spoke to Paul Matson about Hull 4 Heroes and what they aim to do. We also spoke about Paul's brief work on the TV show DIY SOS. Paul sponsors the Hull FC Wheelchair Rugby League team so we ask him a little about that and then get in to some serious rugby chat. We also speak a little about Paul's military background.
We spoke to Paul firstly to find out a bit more about the Skills and Education Group and what his job role is in particular. We also spoke about how Paul got to be in the job that he is now and spoke about previous job roles. Paul also tells us that he would want to be a radio host if he could try out a different career.
We spoke to Caroline Gascoigne who is the National Qualifications manager at DFS about the career opportunities at DFS. What she loves about her job role. Caroline also tells us about apprentices currently at DFS as well as talking about what the apprenticeship programme is like at DFS.
We spoke to Paul about life when he lived down in Cornwall. How he spent 15 years down there doing radio. Paul also tells us about how he had trials at Bradford City but didn't end u going down the football route. Now Paul is working for Local TV and he loves meeting new people.
We spoke to Mike about his current job role as a Youth Enterprise Officer and what he does in that role. He also tells us how long he has worked for Hull City Council and there's a little bit of football chat at the end. Here's hoping for an England win!!
We spoke to Lindsay about her journey so far in the apprenticeship sector, How her career started and did she do an apprenticeship herself? Could she have also started a career as a prison warden?!
Simon Ashworth is the Chief Policy Officer at the Association of Employment and Learning Providers, widely known as AELP. We spoke about what AELP actually do and what Simon's job role is. We also spoke about the challenges that the year of lockdown may have incurred on apprenticeship delivery and what are the challenges that are expected within the coming months to a year as a result of the pandemic.
We spoke to Stacey about all jobs she has experienced so far in her life. We again speak to Stacey about marathon training as well as her Operations Manager Apprenticeship that she is currently doing.
Rachel is the Business Admin Lead here at Springfield Training. We spoke with her to find out how she ended up doing her Team Leader Apprenticeship which she passed with a Distinction as well as what motivates her to get up and go to work.
Thomas Griffin is the owner of Splicing Block Podcasts.
Tom provided us with the podcasting equipment to be able to start the Springfield Training Podcast. I spoke to Tom about how he got in to this line of work and asked him to drop some names of popular figures he has worked with in the past and currently.