Fife Council Building Services held their annual awards ceremony for apprentices on Wednesday 8 October.

The awards celebrate the commitment and achievement of construction craft apprentices over the past year.

A total of 23 awards were presented by Cllr Frances Melville, provost of Fife at the ceremony in the Town House in Kirkcaldy.

This year the overall winner was Douglas Ferguson who is in his 3rd year of training to become a gas technician. This is the second year in a row that Douglas has come out tops, impressing the judges again with his technical knowledge, the quality of his work and his motivation to succeed.

Douglas commented on his time as an apprenticeship: "My experience so far has been brilliant. I've always wanted to learn a trade and I'm very glad to have the opportunity. I would recommend a Modern Apprenticeship (with Fife council Building Services) to anyone."


Another winner today was John Westwater who triumphed in the category for 1st year adult apprentices. Contrary to popular belief apprentices are not just for school leavers and John has worked in several occupations over the years before finally getting the chance to become a qualified joiner. The winner in the 2nd year adult category, Bruce Collins started training as a bricklayer some years ago but didn't complete his time. His apprenticeship has provided the second chance he never thought he would have.

There are currently 92 craft apprentices working in Building Services which is responsible for repairing, maintaining and improving 32,000 council homes and over 2000 public buildings, from schools to sports centres, across Fife. They undertake a 4-year programme which includes a comprehensive package of practical training plus study in their chosen trade.

Head of Asset and Facilties Management Service, Ken Gourlay congratulated the winners: "These awards are well deserved recognition for the hard work our apprentices put in throughout the year.

"The training they undergo requires hard work and dedication and all our winners have demonstrated this with great enthusiasm. Thanks must also go to the tradesmen and women who guide and support the apprentices throughout their training and make sure they learn their trade to the highest standard."

Since Building Services started training apprentices in 1996 around 300 have completed their training and taken up employment with Fife Council.

(GK/JM)