Bath College apprentice shortlisted for the 2017 Young Builder of the Year Awards

A stonemasonry apprentice at Bath College has been shortlisted for the 2017 Young Builder of the Year Awards.
 
Morwenna Harrington is through to the next stage of the awards, organised to celebrate the achievements of young people in construction.
 
She is one of 15 finalists in the 18 to 24-year-old category and has been invited to the House of Commons for a special awards ceremony.
 
Morwenna, 24, is in her third year studying at Bath College after securing an apprenticeship with Bristol Stonemasonry last month.
 
She said: “When I first started stonemasonry I couldn’t really lift a hammer. I didn’t know if I’d made the right choice, but I put in extra time and caught up. I’m pretty happy with my decision now.
 
“As a stonemason you’re using both parts of your brain, it’s a good mixture of creativity and maths. I enjoy working in the banker shop because you can get into a zone and focus on what you’re doing.
 
“It’s the last year I could have applied for the awards, so I thought it was worth a go. We had to write a bit about ourselves for the application form, but I wasn’t expecting to hear anything back.
 
“I’m quite nervous about going up to London, but I’m pleased to have been shortlisted. Anything like this looks good on your CV.”
 
Applications for the Young Builder of the Year are open to students and apprentices from across the UK aged 14 to 24-years-old.
 
The competition aims to show how young people from a variety of different backgrounds, including males and females, can succeed in industry.
 
The winner will receive a prize fund and all shortlisted finalists receive a certificate and tools vouchers.
 
Morwenna will travel to the House of Commons with her parents and stonemasonry lecturer Paul Maggs on October 18.
 
She said: “When I first signed up to stonemasonry I assumed there wouldn’t be as many females, but there were more than I expected.
 
“It’s a perception that women don’t study stonemasonry, but I haven’t found it to be a problem. If you’re a female and you’re thinking about a construction course, this shouldn’t hold you back in any way.
 
“I look back at the drawings I did in first year and I think ‘I can do that easily now.’ It’s not just about females and males, there’s a good range of ages on my course and people from different backgrounds.
 
“It’s the same in my job, the people I work with are really nice and we’re doing some interesting work.”
 
Stonemasonry lecturer Paul Maggs, from Bath College, said: “Morwenna has always worked hard to achieve her goals and I believe she will go a long way in the stonemasonry industry. Who knows, maybe she could be running her own company in the not so distant future.”