21 year old Horticulture Apprentice Grant has made his mark within Hythe and Dibden Parish Council for doing over and above whatever is asked of him.

Grant originally completed a week’s work experience with the Parish when he was at College and then did some part time work for them as a caretaker. So when he applied for their Horticulture Apprentice vacancy, they knew they were going to get a committed employee.

Marcus Kendall from the Council says: “Grant is our first Apprentice. We had run work placements from colleges previously, but we saw the Apprenticeship Programme as an opportunity to give someone a chance. Our current Horticulture team are an ageing workforce with an immense amount of practical knowledge, and an Apprenticeship seemed the perfect way to pass on this experience.

“The Apprenticeship is working out even better than we thought. Grant is so enthusiastic about everything; we’ve never had a ‘no’ from him. He’s come in to answer phones in the office at busy times, and he didn’t baulk even when we asked him to dress as Rudolph and drive the tractor pulling Santa’s sleigh at Christmas!

“Support from the College is brilliant; we can’t fault Karen, our Apprenticeship Liaison Officer. I know that if I had a problem I could get on the phone and she would sort it out immediately.”