Apprentice Awards

 

Welcome to this the 9th Ken McIntosh Memorial Apprentice of the Year Awards, for 2019

 

This annual award recognising the achievements and development of our local apprentices, was proposed by the late Ken McIntosh some ten years ago.

 

Ken McIntosh was a leader in the Timber Industry in New Zealand and a champion for the education and training of apprentices to bring skills to the construction industry. The award is now named in his honour. His son Grant McIntosh is with us this evening and he will assist in the presentation of the prizes

 

Following acceptance by Howick Rotary of the idea of the Award, discussions took place with representatives from BCITO and MIT to promote the award within their apprenticeship schemes and student base. This association continues and representatives from MIT and BCITO are with us today.

 

In the 80s and early 90s there was a distinct lack of support from Government towards the training of apprentices, with a heavy emphasis on getting everyone to attain University qualifications rather than trade qualifications. As a result of that emphasis on University degrees the Building Industry now has a huge gap in the age of its workforce with a large retiring age group and few within the 45 to 65 age group with suitable skills to replace them as they retire from the Industry. Fortunately the BCITO was established in the early 90s to develop the Apprenticeship Training schemes and as a result of that, from around the early 2000s we now have an annually increasing number of young people pursuing apprenticeships to the ultimate benefit of the Industry and New Zealand in particular. This year BCITO is training some 13,000 apprentices with 5000 based in Auckland. With the now extreme shortage of new house builds for our rapidly increasing population these apprentices are becoming an essential part of our burgeoning industry.

 

Over the last month or so with the assistance of Colin Monk we have interviewed the candidates for the Award and have been greatly impressed by the quality of these young men and their attitude towards learning their trade and then developing  themselves further through ongoing study

 

I will now call on the finalists to come forward in no particular order and sit on the seats to my left.

 

Nash is the oldest of this year’s candidates and recently completed his carpentry apprenticeship. He is married with two children and lives in Manurewa. Originally from Fiji he has lived in New Zealand for many years and has been working on a range of construction projects, from housing through to civil projects and including project management on Kiwirail projects. Buildings have included housing new builds, renovations and church buildings. He has completed frontline management courses and is currently undertaking a L5 supervisory course with MIT. He is site-safe qualified

Outside work he has involvement in Church, soccer and multi-ethnicity group

 

Johann originally from South Africa came to New Zealand with his family in 2009 and has lived in Auckland for the last six years. He is 23 and has completed his apprenticeship working for Modus Construction. He has been working on projects around this area and has been working recently on a barn conversion in Whitford. He is currently working on a conversion of a commercial building into a 10 unit residential in Parnell.  A reclad of a large house in Bucklands Beach has also been completed. He is worksafe qualified and wants to undertake his LBP certification in coming year. On Saturdays he plays rugby for under 85s in Papakura

 

Harley is a local young man 22 years old. Harley lives in Beachlands and has been involved in the construction of housing in the Beachlands area for most of his apprenticeship, working for Homing Instincts a local building contractor. Other residential projects have been worked on in Howick, Cockle Bay and Papakura. He completed his apprenticeship in March this year and is currently pursuing licencing under the LBP scheme. He is looking to undertake a staff management course through MIT. Outside of work Harley regularly attends gym sessions and has formed a music band with other local tradesmen, he is a competent guitar and bass player

 

Jordan at 20 is our youngest candidate this year and he has also completed his apprenticeship. He is married and lives in Papakura. He undertook his apprenticeship with Buildrite Contractors – a local building company working mainly on residential new builds and renovations. He enjoys working with his hands and working with his grandfather was what took him into the carpentry trade. He is considering furthering his practical experience in electrical and plumbing trades. He and his wife are involved with church group and regularly participate in beach and stream clean-ups for the local community

 

 

3rd Equal Place – Placemakers Voucher for Tools - $300-00

2^nd Place –   Placemakers Voucher for Tools - $800-00

1^st Place – Winner –  Placemakers Voucher for Tools - $1200-00

 

At this stage I would like to acknowledge the support of Placemakers Pakuranga with these awards

 

If President Mike Abercrombie and Grant McIntosh can please come forward to present the prizes.

 

If you would please come forward as I call your name and award

 

3^rd Equal Place    Placemakers voucher $300-00 Nash Ali and Jordan Schache

 

2^nd Place     Placemakers voucher $800-00  Johann Kroese

 

1^st Place and Winner    Placemakers voucher $1200-00  Harley Peddie

 

 

 

In conclusion I would like to congratulate all the finalists on achieving these awards and thank you for your participation. I trust you all enjoy your chosen vocation and progress to your individual goals through practical training and further study. I wish you all the very best for a bright and successful career ahead. To all the guests of our finalists, I thank you for coming along this evening to support them and hope you all enjoy this evening.

 

Harley Peddie Apprentice of the year being presented with his award by Grant McIntosh

 

This years contestants