Cameron Petch, Paralegal Apprentice at Lanyon Bowdler, is this quarter’s Damar Apprentice Champion.
Cameron was selected as the winner due to his commitment to self-development, enthusiasm for taking on extra challenges to improve his performance, and dedication to promoting apprenticeships and Lanyon Bowdler to other young people.
He was nominated by Emma Harrison, Learning and Development Manager and Dawn Humphries, Partner and Head of the Personal Injury Department.
In the nomination, Emma said: “As an L&D Professional I encourage personal development and Cameron has been a shining example of this. He goes above and beyond in his role and seeks out extra training that will benefit himself and others in his team. He is an enthusiastic supporter of careers events within schools and colleges and talks confidently with students about his experience. He has also taken part in the recording of a podcast on apprenticeships for our website. It has been a delight to watch his progress from school leaver to a valued professional within a high performing team.”
Dawn added: “I have been very impressed with his commitment, organisation skills, time management and enthusiasm in achieving the goals set. He has shown himself as someone who takes on extra challenges. For example, he is a super user for the new computer system which has been installed, and has shown excellent team workmanship by patiently assisting his co-workers. Cameron now has a defined career path working towards his ultimate goal of qualification (as a solicitor), working in a department and firm that will support him. I have complete trust and confidence in him and genuinely believe we are privileged to have him as part of our team.”
During the online presentation of the award, Coach Jenna Oxley talked about his profiler, which is the bespoke tool that Damar use to monitor apprentices’ progress. Cameron’s profiler scores showed how he had progressed from being a novice to an expert in almost all areas of the paralegal apprenticeship. She also discussed how he had embraced the O Shaped principles which are embedded in the programme, developing his business and people skills, alongside his technical legal knowledge.
Jonathan Bourne, MD of Damar Training, said: “Every quarter, Damar coaches and employer partners have the opportunity to nominate apprentices for their outstanding apprenticeship work and the impact they have had. This is part of our aim to celebrate apprentice achievement and to recognise the value that apprentices bring to their employer organisation. Cameron really stood out to us as exemplifying everything that an outstanding apprentice can do – building skills and knowledge by seeking out additional opportunities, developing into a highly valued member of the team, and becoming a role model for other apprentices and colleagues.”
Cameron said: “Winning the award and completing my end-point assessment have been the two biggest accomplishments of my apprenticeship. I am hoping to go on to undertake the solicitor apprenticeship in the future to further develop my career, and winning this award is a testament to the hard work that I have put in over the past 18 months. My advice for anyone else considering an apprenticeship, especially over university, would be to absolutely go for it!”
If you have an apprentice in your team or organisation who is making a real difference, please complete our short nomination form, which will be considered by our panel for next quarter’s award.