Sponsored by
Darren Pillar realises long held dream
AFTER leaving college with horticultural qualifications Darren Pillar had ambitions to become a manager.
Eighteen years later, he is now the manager of Wyevale Grounds Maintenance, Eastbourne, who look after the seafront and the Carpet Gardens, playgrounds, sports pitches and housing grounds estates. When Wyevale employed him as manager, Darren felt he lacked formal managerial qualifications and became the first person in his company to do an Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) course at Sussex Downs College.
During the past three years, he has completed several ILM courses and has just finished his Level 4 Qualifications for Management. In addition several staff members are now also enrolled on various NVQ courses with Sussex Downs.
He said, "The college has been fantastic, and our assessor, Gillian Pope has been a rock. She advises and guides our employees on what is required. At the same time, she has learnt about our industry and is able to relate the units back to work which make it easier and relevant to understand. Her teaching style helps team members to believe in their abilities, and gives constructive criticism.
"Some of my team have worked in the industry all their working life, but being self-taught and learning off others, they have no formal recognition of their ability.
"Wyevale have always carried out their own internal training and have enrolled staff on external courses, but didn't recognise opportunities available though Train to Gain. I had made it my goal to ensure that staff here could have the opportunity to gain a qualification while carrying on with their day-to-day duties."
If you'd like more information on how Sussex Downs College can help you train your employees, please call 0845 2302 007 or email: employertraining@sussexdowns.ac.uk.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Eastbourne
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: -6 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
