I heard about Prostart whilst I was employed at Nottingham City Council as a Manager within the Cemeteries & Crematorium Team. I was relatively new to management and the majority of my training had been on the job and I was looking into different options to as to how I could progress my development both professionally and personally and through speaking with colleagues I found out about Prostart.

I really enjoy learning and I had been out of education for a number of years, and when I saw the course I thought it was a perfect opportunity to both think differently about how I could improve as a manager, understand the scope of my works from a different perspective and it would also give me the challenge I was looking for to push myself out of my comfort area that bit more. 

The programme has given me much more confidence in my decision making, and without realising I was doing it, I’ve come to find that actions such as problem solving, decision making or even within my leadership style, where all supported by nationally recognised theories and philosophies that I had never come across before.

It was also really beneficially to be in a cohort of my peers; I was able to interact with colleagues who I wouldn’t normally come into contract with. As such, learning from their experiences and us sharing our own stories as to how we had handled being an Operational Manager was really insightful and brought a wider appreciation to what sometimes can feel like quite an isolated role.

One of the areas I wanted to progress professionally was to transition from being Operational to being Strategic. As my Tutor, Tracy really helped me to understand what I needed to do to achieve that and built my confidence through being an ‘outside’ perspective to help me understand about where my strengths lay and any areas which I could improve upon.

Just over a year into my Apprenticeship, I made quite a large (and unplanned!) life choice to relocate back North to be closer to my family. As part of this, and again wanting to challenge myself, I went out on a bit of a limb and applied for a role which was quite a large promotion, to be Strategic Lead for Parks, Open Spaces and Cemeteries for a Council in Cumbria. I was lucky enough to get the job and pretty much the week after finishing the project I made the move. It was through relocating across country, selling/buying a house and starting the new job, I also needed to prepare for my Assessment. Tracey was incredibly patient and flexible with me during this time, allowing me to attend other Cohort sessions so that I could fit my learning around what I had going on and basically became my sounding board whilst I went through somewhat of a stressful time!  But it all paid off, and I’m not quite sure how I did it, but I went on to get a Distinction! In a heartbeat.

I would recommend an Apprenticeship; it’s a worthwhile experience for anyone who wants to push their boundaries that little bit more and the support that is given is understanding and consistent with Prostart wanting you to be the best you can be. My employer was really supportive of me carrying out the apprenticeship and encouraged my additional learning. They gave me access to shadow meetings, gave me opportunities to get involved in conversations that I wouldn’t normally have access to and where open and transparent when I started asking lots of questions!

It’s occurred a little earlier than I originally planned but one of my original goals was to learn how to become Strategic and where my Operational background could fit into that. I wanted to have a wider influence on how policies are implemented, how decisions are made and be responsible for a larger service. The apprenticeship came at the right time for me and gave me the boost to think that taking that step upwards was not out of scope, and very recently I have become Strategic Lead for Parks, Open Spaces and Cemeteries. I am now responsible for creating a 10-year strategy for keeping green and open space in south Cumbria safe, sustainable and enjoyable for all and I can’t wait to get stuck in!