About Us

Personal Profile – Shauni Frew

My name is Shauni Frew and I am 19 years old. I am currently doing a one year Business and Administration Modern Apprenticeship with South Ayrshire Council. When I was asked to take part in the Modern Apprentice challenge ‘Step in time’ which involves restoring the historical landmark Bruce’s Well in Prestwick, I agreed as I thought it would be a good learning experience as well as being fun and a good chance to get involved with something a bit different which I had never done before. I hope that we will achieve our goal of restoring Bruce’s well and get as many members of the community involved as possible whilst doing this. When my MA is up I hope to move on to another job in the council with my new SVQ level 2 qualification which I am also currently working towards and move on to my SVQ level 3.

Personal Profile – Shaunagh McCutcheon

My name is Shaunagh McCutcheon; I am 19 years old and currently working through a 1 year Apprenticeship Programme in Business and Administration through South Ayrshire Council. I and another Business Administration Modern Apprentice were selected to take part in an MA Challenge which is a restoration project called Step in Time. Once the project and its aims had been explained to me I was very keen to take part in the project. History is a very important part of any town and to be able to restore a famous historical landmark was a very exciting idea. In the challenge it has allowed me to work with various Modern Apprentices from different sectors and have enjoyed getting to meet new people who are also completing their apprenticeships. Getting involved in this project has allowed me to use my skills and creativity and also contribute to the community by bringing this landmark back to life.

Personal Profile – Alistair Aitken

My name is Alistair Aitken. I am 18 years old and I am currently working as a Modern Apprentice Home carer with the South Ayrshire Council. Myself and some of the other Modern Apprentices have been selected to take part in the MA Challenge for this year which is to restore Bruce’s Well. Once I was given more information about the challenge I was really keen to take part as I enjoy working as part of a team, all in all it seemed like a great worthwhile thing to be involved in. After my Modern Apprenticeship is up I hope to further progress through home care and gain as much experience and qualifications as possible as I would like to pursue a career in this field of work.

Personal Profile – Lisa Robertson

My name is Lisa Robertson, I am 18 years old and I am a Health and Social Care Modern Apprentice with South Ayrshire Council. I will also be completing my SVQ 2 during the course of the apprenticeship. Myself and a few other MAs got together to take part in the Ma Challenge. In doing this we are restoring the Bruce’s Well monument and building up a portfolio. I was keen to get involved as I like to work in a team and it sounded like a good idea. The apprenticeship has given me experience and an understanding of the role of a home carer. Once my year is up I may go on and pursue a career in home care or I will apply for nursing at university.

Personal Profile – Robbie Pinkerton

My name is Robbie Pinkerton and I am 17 years old. I am currently doing a 1 year Modern Apprenticeship with South Ayrshire Council as a Green Keeper at Troon Golf Course. When I was asked to take part in the Modern Apprentice Challenge ‘Step in Time’ which involves restoring the historical landmark Bruce’s Well in Prestwick I agreed as I thought it would be a good experience as well as being fun and a good chance to get involved in something a bit different.

Personal Profile – Grant Graham

My name is Grant Graham, I am 19 years old. I am currently enrolled in a green keeping apprenticeship with South Ayrshire Council. I agreed to do the Modern Apprentice Challenge which requires us to restore Bruce’s Well in Prestwick as I think it would be useful on my CV to demonstrate my ability to work as a team and be involved in something that contributes towards the community. After the completion of my apprenticeship I hope to apply for a full time post as well as moving on to an SVQ level 3.

Personal Profile – Jack Neashman

My name is Jack Neashman and I am 17 years old. I am currently undertaking a 1 year modern apprenticeship with South Ayrshire Council Roads Department. We have been given a challenge ‘Step in Time’ which involves us to restore Bruce’s well in Prestwick. Hopefully by the end of my apprenticeship I will get kept on full time or move on to an SVQ level 3.I enjoyed reinstating the path around this ancient hospital chapel and being able to see at close quarter the historical features that I was until now unaware of other than its name. My main task was to rake the tar to maintain the appropriate level and depth of 40mm. In addition I sprayed on the bitchumen emulsion and used the whacker to compact the tar.

Personal Profile – Steven Fitzsimmons

My name is Steven Fitzsimmons and I am 16 years old. My modern apprenticeship is with the roads department. I am trying to gain my SVQ level 2 roads. I will be tarring at Bruce’s well, making a footpath. Working as a team with other modern apprentices from South Ayrshire Council will give me more confidence and be a fun experience. Jack and myself sourced service plans from the different utilities and double checked the accuracy by organising a cable avoidance scan. Safety is a priority and the last thing we want is an accident. We reinstated an existing footpath that had seen better days (the path didn’t look very nice and in addition there were pothole tripping hazards) with 4 tonne, 6mm dense. The specification for the footpath was 400mm depth to tie in with existing footpath levels.

Personal profile – Andrew Turner

My name is Andrew Turner, I am 18 years old. I am currently doing a 1 year apprenticeship with the South Ayrshire Council in Troon parks department working in the high amenity gardens in Prestwick. When I was asked to take part in the Bruce’s well challenge (step in time) to restore the historical grounds in Prestwick I could not wait to get started. I think this would be a great opportunity to meet other modern apprentices and learn new skills from what they do at work. We will be making a moon shape heather bed next to the ruin and we will also be extending the front heather bed. We will be filling and grassing over the rose beds then we will be helping the two boys from the roads to lay 4 tonne of tar 40mm thick to replace the foot path around the ruin. I’m sure this will be a great thing to put on my CV to help get work hopefully in the council or private businesses doing ground work to hopefully move on to a SVQ level 3 to gain experience to hopefully run my own gardening business one day.

Personal Profile – Brian Black

My name is Brian Black, I am 20 years old and I am currently doing a 1 year Modern Apprenticeship in Amenity Horticulture in all village areas all over South Ayrshire. When we were given the challenge ‘Step in Time’ which involves restoring the historical land mark Bruce’s Well in Prestwick I was very excited and couldn’t wait to show South Ayrshire Council and the Community what my team working skills and workman ship are like. My job role was to re-shape and build heather beds from scratch and had to combine colours to get peoples attention. I also helped road workers to restore the path way around the old church. When we finished we got very good comments and I was proud of myself and the team. It was a great experience and it gave me the chance to show my ability of working in a team and be involved in the community. After the completion of my apprenticeship I hope to get a full time post as well as moving on to an SVQ level 3.