Rachel Appleby is one of our apprentice carpenters. She writes about how transforming her garden made her realise carpentry was her perfect career.
Rachel battled through countless rejections before landing an apprenticeship with Newport City Homes. She discovered her love of carpentry after transforming her garden into what she jokingly describes as looking like the set of Love Island.
Image description: NCH Apprentice Carpenter Rachel Appleby wearing a Newport City Homes uniform. Quote from Rachel says, "Carpentry is everything to me. I'm in my element when I'm making something." Text says 'celebrating our brilliant apprentices in National Apprentice Week 7-13 February'
“Getting an apprenticeship was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I contacted 100s of places to ask for one. I walked in one place to ask and was told, ‘no, now please leave the building’. I thought that I wouldn’t ask anyone else.
“I was working full-time in a pizza restaurant when I did my garden. I finished my garden and thought ‘what can I do now?’ I enjoyed doing it so much.
“Nash College had a carpentry and joinery course and in 2019 I started doing that full-time while working the same hours in the restaurant. It was so hard. I would walk an hour to work, then home, and walk an hour to college.
“It was a struggle as a single parent. I look back and think, ‘how the hell did I manage that?’ It was very tiring. I was walking 50,000 steps a day.
“Then I was made redundant and thought, ‘what am I going to do now?’ I knew working there was not going to be part of my future, so I felt redundancy happened for a reason. I was jobless for 18 months.
“One of my college tutors contacted me and said there were apprenticeships at Newport City Homes. I just loved making things from scratch. It was all manual in college. I can’t thank my tutors enough. I’m going to buy them a cake.
“I have completed my diploma but have to spend a bit more in college to do maths to complete the NVQ.
“Everyone is so friendly at Newport City Homes. I ask a lot of questions and am quite repetitive. My team are so patient, I can ask them the same question five times a day. I look forward to coming to work.
“Carpentry is everything to me, when I say that people look at me as if I’m stupid. But I'm in my element when I’m making something. In five years’ time I want people to say, ‘I know Rachel, I worked with her. She’s a top carpenter.”
Learn more about Rachel's story here: