Hard work and commitment helped an apprentice journalist scoop a prestigious training award.
Lauren Meredith, who produces editorial content for the Monmouthshire Beacon and Abergavenny Chronicle, was named Journalism Apprentice of the Year award at the Cardiff and Vale College Apprenticeship Awards, held last night (Thursday).
The Cardiff and Vale awards were held as part of National Apprenticeship Week, which celebrates the positive impact of apprenticeships for individuals, businesses and the wider community. This year’s theme ‘Skills for Life’ reflects on how apprenticeships help individuals to develop the skills and knowledge required for a rewarding career.
Lauren said: “Winning the journalist apprentice of the year award feels like an amazing achievement as I now not only have a valuable qualification and work experience through doing the apprenticeship with Tindle, but I now also have an award that displays the effort I put in throughout.
Great opportunity
“The colleagues I work with have played a massive part in my success during this apprenticeship. Everything I now know about writing for a newspaper has come from spending time in an office surrounded by talented individuals and learning from them.
“This apprenticeship has been a great opportunity and has taught me so many aspects of journalism that I wouldn’t have learnt through just going to university.”
Regional Editor Liz Davies said: “Congratulations to Lauren for winning this award in recognition of the positive progress she has made during her journalism apprenticeship.
“We were delighted to have represented Tindle Newspapers at the Cardiff and Vale Apprenticeship Awards presentation evening and to see Lauren recognised for her success.”
Emily Woolfe, Group Digital Editor, said: “Massive congratulations to Lauren, who is just one of our rising stars. We are hugely proud of how far she has come.”
Editorial training
Lauren is one of five apprentices close to completing their training programmes with our company, having built up valuable work experience in our newsrooms while undergoing formal courses to gain the qualifications needed to work in editorial.
All five work alongside reporting colleagues in Devon, Cornwall and Wales, to build experience of newsgathering and reporting, while achieving National Council for the Training of Journalists qualifications.
Working in a multi-platform environment, Tindle apprentices gain skills in video, photography and writing news copy, as well as strong experience of digital publishing and social media audience development.
The other Tindle apprentices are Ethan Heppell of the Mid Devon Advertiser, Joseph Carrick of the Brecon & Radnor Express, Liam Davies of the Tavistock Times Gazette and Scarlett Hills-Brooks of the Cornish Times and the Cornish & Devon Post.