CUMBRIA Tourism has won a national award for its reception apprenticeship programme which recruited young people into a combined working and learning programme.

The Business Development team made it a hat-trick of award wins in three years after collecting the award at Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium.

They won the prestigious Young People Award at the Springboard Awards for Excellence, which was sponsored by American Express.  Judges were looking for the best initiative which succeeded in attracting school or college leavers into the tourism industry, linking young people, training and employers. 

The reception apprenticeship programme, which was funded by Cumbria Learning and Skills Council's European Social Fund, was developed in partnership with local employers to address the skills shortage facing Cumbria's tourism industry. 

Cumbria Tourism recruited the young people onto the programme and placed them with employers for 18 months.  Eight youngsters have recently graduated from the programme.

In addition to their NVQ Level 2 in reception, the apprentices completed a range of training, co-ordinated by Cumbria Tourism, to provide them with additional skills to do their jobs.  This included personal presentation training, seeing examples of best practice and undertaking Welcome To Excellence suite of customer service courses.

The win is the third national award for the team and follows them winning Springboard's Young People Award in 2004 for Cumbria Tourism's Chef Apprenticeship programme and a National Training Award in 2005 for the chef programme.  The chef programme also won a North West Edge Employer Award in 2005.

Business Region of the Year 2006

Cumbria Tourism won the Business Achievement Award for Business Region of the Year for the business tourism campaign. The Media Today Business Achievement Awards are recognised throughout business and industry, known regionally as well as nationally. 

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards 2005

We are delighted to announce that CT's Hidden Treasures of Cumbria campaign was the proud recipient of a silver award at the prestigious IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) Effectiveness Awards held in Belfast recently. The Hidden Treasures of Cumbria campaign was launched in 2003 to promote excellence and attract new visitors to the less well-known, non-Lake District areas of the county. The campaign generated an outstanding £13.9 million economic benefit for Cumbria from a total two year campaign spend of only £315,000 (each £1 spent generated a phenomenal £44 return).

National Training Award 2005

The National Training Awards are the UK's premier accolade for organisations and individuals that have achieved excellence through training. The award was for the Chef Apprenticeship programme run by the Business Development section of Cumbria Tourism.

Edge Employer Regional Award 2005

The Edge Employer Award rewards organisations that provide outstanding practical learning opportunities for young people. The Business Development team won a regional award in the Small Business category for the Chef Apprenticeship programme.

Silver Award for Best In House Campaign - PRide Awards 2005

Cumbria Tourism's press team won an award in the annual 'Oscars' for the public relations industry 2005. The public relations team took silver in the category for Best In House Campaign and was a finalist in the PR team of the year section, following a series of headline grabbing initiatives to promote Cumbria as a visitor destination. The PRide Awards were held in Manchester and organised by the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) to showcase the best PR practitioners across the region.

Springboard Award for Excellence in Young People 2004

The Springboard UK Young People Award acknowledged the Business Development team's Chef Apprentice programme as the best national initiative for building relationships between young people, local colleges and tourism businesses.

Best Use of Teleworking - NW e-Commerce Awards 2004

Cumbria Tourism collected the award for the Best Use of Teleworking in the North West at the Department of Trade and Industry's e-Commerce Awards night. Cumbria Tourism scooped first prize for the introduction in July 2004 of a "remote access" system designed by its Information and Communications Technology team. The system allows key personnel to securely access e-mails, spread sheets and important data held on the internal network in Windermere, wherever they are.