Leonardo Helicopter Trainees Celebrate 2018 Achievements

08 October 2018

At the beginning of October, Leonardo's UK Helicopters trainees were recognised at the 2018 annual awards dinner held in Yeovil, celebrating the achievements of the apprentices and graduates over the past year and the charity fundraising efforts of the Leonardo helicopter business Apprentice and Student Association.

Josh Hughes, the association Chairman, opened the evening with a speech, telling the 225 guests about the key events and achievements for the year and announced they had raised a very impressive £44,700 for locally based charity School in a Bag. This brings the total raised for School in a Bag to £75,773 in the last two years, £10,000 more than the ambitious target they had set themselves in 2016.

School in a Bag delivers rucksacks full of stationery and resources to poor, orphan, vulnerable and disaster-affected children around the world. The extra £10,000 raised will be used to provide 625 school bags for the pupils at a school in the Bhotenamlang region of Nepal that School in a Bag and the association are helping rebuild following its destruction by an earthquake in 2015.

It was also announced that association will raise money in 2019 for two locally based charities – Mind in Somerset and Yeovil Opportunity Group. Mind in Somerset provides support to anyone with a mental health problem and also promotes good mental health and wellbeing, while Yeovil Opportunity Group provides pre-school education for children with additional needs.

A presentation was also made by Leonardo’s engineering graduates who have teamed up with Yeovil District Hospital to provide support material for local people who are living with dementia. Using material from the Company’s fascinating archives they have created scrapbooks and sensory boxes that can be used to provide patients with reminiscence therapy and enjoyment.

Several awards for outstanding achievements were made by Geoff Munday, Director of Leonardo's UK Helicopter business. 

The award winners were:

  1. AW159 Maintenance Trainer Team, Army Air Corps Award for Leadership & Innovation
  2. Devon Ward, Best First Year Apprentice Award
  3. Eddie Wilson-Chalon, Most Improved Graduate Award
  4. Mike Roberts, Wheeldon Cup in recognition of being the Most Active Member
  5. James Stevens, Selwyn Pritchard Award for the Best Engineering Apprentice
  6. Charlie Watkins, Technician’s Cup for the Best Technical Apprentice
  7. Tom Grant, Post Graduate Trainee Award
  8. Bradley Antell, Managing Director’s Cup – for the Best Overall Trainee of the Year

The event coincided with the launch of Leonardo's 2019 apprentice and graduate recruitment programmes which offer a wide range of excellent job opportunities in Yeovil and across the UK. Leonardo currently has over 400 graduates and apprentices in training at its different facilities across the country and is now looking to recruit approximately 50 new apprentices and graduates to work at its Yeovil site.