Walsall Council apprentices show the value of teamwork

Clive Kenton, 62, and Eden Turley, 20, are both studying for civil engineering degree apprenticeships in the University of Wolverhampton’s School of Architecture and Built Environment

They are in the fourth year of the five-year course, which is held at the university's £120m brownfield regeneration project on Springfield Campus.

Clive has worked for Walsall Council for 33 years, having secured an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in building studies and a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in civil engineering after a stint in the army. He has recently been promoted to principal engineer at the council.

Eden joined Walsall Council after completing his A-Levels and is a degree apprentice civil engineer.

Clive and Eden have supported each other from the beginning of the apprenticeship, with Clive offering experience and knowledge gained throughout his career, and Eden helping with the more technical aspects of the degree.

Clive said: “When I started out on my career path at Walsall Council, at the time you had to pay for your degree and I couldn’t afford that. It was great to find out when Eden arrived that I could start to study for a degree regardless of my age.

"Having him at my side has really helped me. I’m supposed to be his mentor, but for the first two years he was pulling me along and helping me with my maths. Later on, those roles reversed and I started to help him out more with report writing, utilising the more in-depth knowledge and experience I’d gained over the years throughout my career."

Eden said: “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my future. I did some work experience in Civil Engineering and it really helped to prepare me with the job at the council and the learning on the degree.

“Me and Clive get on really well. Clive is more academic and has had a lot more experience and I’m more technical in terms of maths and research, and Clive is a lot better at report writing so we help each other.

“My aim through this degree apprenticeship is to become chartered and move into the structural side of things - because with civil engineering you can actually see what you’re doing and you can make some sort of meaningful impact on the world. You also get a lot more experience on an apprenticeship than you would going to university full-time.”

Councillor Mark Statham, Walsall Council’s cabinet member for internal services said: “I’m delighted our civil engineers are able to access high quality training within the workplace and that they have been able to work closely together throughout the programme. They make a great partnership and we are all very proud of both of them.

"We believe apprenticeships are good for business, as apprentices can be moulded and shaped in their area of expertise, to deliver the exact skills our business needs.

"The apprenticeship programme also means our employees who have many years of work experience can actually gain recognition for those skills but also enhance their knowledge of their area of expertise. It's a winning combination for them and us."