Belton's Joseph is hospice's first apprentice

Lindsey Lodge Hospice cares for terminally-ill people and the charity has taken on its first apprentice in conjunction with a North Lindsey College.

Joseph King, 22, from Belton, stood out from 40 other candidates who applied for the finance apprentice position at the hospice on Burringham Road in Scunthorpe.

Joseph, who is studying AAT accounting at North Lindsey College one day a week, said an apprenticeship is the best way “to learn more on the job.” He added: “I feel lucky to be in this position because experience is essential to employers as well as your qualifications. It also proves how dedicated you are and that you’re serious that you want a future career in it.

“I enjoy working at the hospice and my responsibilities include banking donations, dealing with invoices, working on programmes such as Sage and Donorflex and dealing with queries from a general email account. I feel like I make a difference.

“I would advise anyone looking into an apprenticeship to give it a go. I was originally paying the course fees myself, but now I have taken on this role my training is funded by the National Apprenticeship Service.”

The apprenticeship is for two and a half years and finance manager Wayne Cross already has high hopes for Joseph.

“We are already looking at expanding his responsibilities,” said Wayne, who helped with the recruitment.

“Joseph stood out from the others and gave a very good interview and performed exceptionally well at our skills test.

“He has fitted into the team extremely well and is already proving to be an asset that we know will get on with the job and do it to the best of his abilities.”

Wayne said that he was apprehensive as to whether an apprenticeship was the right route for the hospice.

He added: “With it being the first time that the hospice had considered recruiting an apprentice, I was a little unsure with how easy the process would be. But North Lindsey College worked really efficiently by advertising for the job and filtering candidates for us- so it was very straight forward.”

Sharron Eskesen, business development officer for North Lindsey College, added: "North Lindsey College has strong links with Lindsey Lodge Hospice and when they approached us for an apprentice in AAT our obvious choice was to look at our current students on programme.

“Joseph is hard-working, dedicated and a credit to our college. Apprenticeships give young people the chance to earn whilst they learn and add value to the organisation.”

Keep an eye out for other jobs at Lindsey Lodge Hospice on www.lindseylodgehospice.org.uk and for more information about apprenticeships with the college visit www.northlindsey.ac.uk