Career Ready students celebrate graduation at Cardiff and Vale College

Cardiff and Vale College has played host to 18 students as they celebrated their graduation from the Career Ready programme with friends, parents, mentors and tutors.

The graduation ceremony was held in The Classroom, the College’s landmark modern European restaurant with across Cardiff at its City Centre Campus. Students were presented with a certificate for completing the programme by Welsh Super Featherweight professional boxer and member of Team GB at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Joe Cordina. Joe is a former student of the College.

Awards were also presented. The Career Ready Student Achievement Award 2017 was won by Josh Milford for his self-motivation to succeed and for being an asset to his employer.

“It was very surprising,” Josh, 17 and from Cardiff, said of his award. “But it’s rewarding because you don’t expect it and you are getting rewarded for being on a programme which was a reward in itself.

“Career Ready prepares you for everything in a way that other courses do not.”

The Career Ready Student of the Year Award went to 19-year-old Connor Csaszar. Connor could not be present as he is currently taking part in Camp America, but in a video message he thanked the College’s Career Ready Co-ordinator Tracy Bird, his mentor Lindsay Hoyle of the NatWest and all the businesses who come in to CAVC to support the programme. He also thanked his father for being “his rock” during what had been a difficult year for them both.

Connor’s father, Paul, collected the award on his behalf. He said: “I am extremely proud of Connor for this award and I know he was extremely elated to have won it.”

CAVC Business tutor Wayne Lilley received the Outstanding Commitment Award. He was worked tirelessly to promote their learners, with three of them going on to be winners of the Sir Winfried Bischoff Award for Career Ready Learner of the Year.

After the ceremony, CAVC alumni and Welsh Super Featherweight boxer Joe Cordina said: “The award ceremony was great. Obviously I don’t know any of the students but hearing what they achieved is impressive.

“I was pretty much in the same space back in the day and if I had something like this that would have been great. The programme helps people to find something that they really enjoy.

“It’s nice coming back to the College – I was based in Trowbridge but here we are standing right by the student kitchens and that’s I did; catering. I was a student once and it’s good to give something back – if someone in my position had come in and seen me I might not have been star-struck but I would have thought that I could do something like they had, too.”

Career Ready is a UK-wide charity linking employers with schools and colleges to open up the world of work to young people aged 16-19. Learners at CAVC can apply to join the programme to run alongside their course and receive mentoring, masterclasses, workplace visits and internships.

Career Ready Lead Regional Manager for Wales and the West Simon Page said: “It’s fantastic to be here and I congratulate all of the students. Each of them has achieved a massive amount. We work with 300 schools and colleges and it’s no exaggeration to say that Cardiff and Vale College is at the top of them – the commitment is phenomenal.”

Cardiff and Vale College Career Ready Co-ordinator Tracy Bird said: “I am honoured and proud to celebrate the success of our Career Ready learners. These students embraced the opportunity to build a successful career path.

“Each one of them has been supported by mentors’ masterclasses, workplace visits and internships. We have a significant role to play in enabling young people to deliver their potential and for us to deliver a skilled workforce.

“With help of our volunteers and supports we have achieved this, not only producing a skilled team of Career Ready learners but also successful ones. Career Ready students of today are our future.”