Posted10.12.16
“I hope my experience inspires others” George Bageya wins Apprentice of the year
Evolve Housing + Support is pleased to announce that George Bageya, Digital Inclusion Officer has won Apprentice of the Year for London in the national ‘Housing Heroes’ Awards, organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Inside Housing. The awards aim to ensure those ‘unsung heroes’ of the housing world are recognised and rewarded for their contribution in making housing such a vibrant and caring sector.
George graduated from Evolve’s Support Worker Apprenticeship programme in 2015. The programme provides an opportunity for people without support work experience to become trainee support workers. Many trainees have lived experience of homelessness, and use their experience to the benefit of other homeless people.
Since graduating from the apprenticeship programme, George has made a lasting difference to Evolve’s residents. He managed a bike recycling project, (funded by the Big Lottery Fund), that enabled homeless people to build and maintain their own bike. He currently runs a digital inclusion project, empowering homeless people to enhance their IT skills by learning from their peers. He also works with the Open Cinema Foundation, which brings cinema and films into our services. George’s dedication to his work has now been acknowledged through this prestigious award which recognises the contribution of apprentices across the housing sector.
Jeremy Gray, Chief Executive of Evolve said, “I am delighted and extremely proud that George has won this award. He truly embodies our values; believing in our customers and seeing them as whole people with experiences and skills that are assets to be built on and supporting them to achieve their aspirations,”
George said, “I was surprised and honoured to win the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ category at the CIH Regional Awards. This in itself is a huge achievement for me. I am proud to represent Evolve Housing + Support at the national ‘Housing Heroes’ Awards and I hope my experience inspires others.”
George has now been shortlisted for the ‘Apprentice of the Year’ award across all regions, and the winner will be announced at the Housing Heroes Awards, held on Monday 27 June in Manchester.
A full list of the nominees can be found here.
(Above image: George (far right) with customers at our Stockwell service.)
