College students win top awards for professional development and HR

COLEG CAMBRIA students won top national awards for excellence in professional development and human resources (HR).

Lydia Drury-Williams was named CIPD Wales (Charted Institute of Personnel Development) Level 5 Student of the Year, while Christopher Thrift picked up the Level 3 title for North Wales.

Based at Cambria Business School in Northop, they thanked tutor Philippa Parkin and said the accolades and lessons learnt on the college’s CIPD courses will stand them in good stead for the future.

Lucy achieved the Apprenticeship in Business Administration at Levels 2 and 3 before moving on to Level 5.

Now working in HR for Ewloe-based housebuilder Redrow, she praised lecturers for the support she received, and said: “Winning the CIPD Wales Student of the Year Award has been such an honour.

“Philippa has been an inspiration to me and from doing the CIPD courses at Cambria I have developed my knowledge of HR and become more confident.”

Christopher has worked at Convatec in Deeside for more than a decade and decided to enrol for a CIPD course so he could make the move from the shop floor to HR.

The only male student in a 23-strong class, Christopher made a big contribution to class discussions and was able to apply elements of their learning to his workplace, giving examples of best practice in a real-time professional environment.

Admitting he was “overwhelmed” to win the regional accolade, he said: “I have enjoyed my 10 years at Convatec, but after a conversation with colleagues in HR and manufacturing I was given the support to join the course at Coleg Cambria and get the ball rolling on a change of career.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and been motivated by my tutor and peers throughout.

“Cambria Business School is a world-class educational facility and a fantastic environment in which to study; I would like to thank everyone for their support.”

Opened in 2017, the £3.5m facility welcomes more than 1,500 students every year for a range of degree level courses, professional development programmes and business training.

Lesley Rasmussen, Deputy Director at Cambria Business School, said the centre has gone from strength to strength and the diligence and dedication of staff is reflected in the “brilliant” achievements of Lydia and Chris.

“We are proud to have delivered CIPD courses for many years at Coleg Cambria, receiving consistently excellent results on programmes up to degree level,” said Lesley.

“The Business School provides students with an energising environment and I’m glad to hear Lydia and Chris felt that was the case.

“They deserve all of this recognition and are an absolute credit to Cambria, to themselves and their employers.”

For more on the wide range of professional development courses at Coleg Cambria, visit the website: www.cambria.ac.uk/business/professional-development