Coachmakers present Arkwright Awards

Two Arkwright Awards sponsored by The Coachmakers were presented to the winners at events in Reading and Leeds attended by members of the Charity Committee.

The Arkwright Awards are prestigious and highly sought-after awards to young people. Managed by The Smallpeice Trust, the two-year awards for 16-18 year-olds in the UK are designed to inspire future leaders in engineering, computing, and technical design. Scholars receive financial support, industry mentorship, and enrichment experiences. The rigorous selection process includes applications, aptitude exams, and interviews. This year, from 1,494 applications there were scholarships awarded to 378 students, including 100 virtual awards, creating an inspiring cohort of future engineers.

The Smallpeice Trust commented “We are delighted to share that our scholars truly enjoyed and benefitted from the events, with 98% saying they felt it helped them to connect with sponsors, mentors and other scholars. Scholar feedback emphasises how much they enjoyed making connections with each other for the future and getting to know their mentor.”

Assistant Roger Woodbridge, Chairman of the Charity Committee, attended the presentation in Reading Town Hall on 24th October where he met Lizzi from Bexley Heath who is interested in automotive engineering and robotics. Roger, pictured with fellow sponsors on the day, commented that Lizzi is “an incredibly bright and able student who will go far”.

Liveryman Andrew Blatherwick, a member of the Charity Committee attended the day in Leeds where he presented an award to Raghav the second of our sponsored scholars. Once again Raghav is an incredibly bright young man who is determined to succeed in a career in engineering specialising in aerospace.

Both Roger and I thoroughly enjoyed our day spent with very special young people who are creative, intelligent and very personable with excellent communication skills. Both Lizzi and Raghav would be very grateful for work experience opportunities this summer, Lizzi in the Bexley Heath area and Raghav in London. If anyone can help offer work experience, helping two exceptional young people staring out on their career as engineers, please do let me know and I will make the necessary arrangements a.blatherwick@btconnect.com.

One of last year’s students, Pranay, completed work experience with the team at RVL Aviation, who are keeping a close eye on Pranay and staying in touch as they believe he could be a star of the future and someone they would be interested in employing later in his career.