Vision of the Future Sees NPT Homes Apprentice Win National Competition

One of NPT Homes’ most promising apprentices is celebrating after coming out on top in a prestigious housing industry competition.

Lynsey Davies and her team of fellow housing apprentices from around Wales stormed to victory in Community Housing Cymru’s (CHC) Welsh Apprentice Challenge 2016.

The challenge saw three teams of apprentices work together to undertake a series of tasks and presentations over the course of two days at CHC Cymru’s annual conference in Cardiff.

Lynsey and her fellow teammates were given the task of considering what the social housing sector would look like in 20 years’ time. Lynsey and her team then chose to focus on digital technologies and developed an app which would allow tenants to pay rent, report repairs and receive information from their housing provider.

The team then fedback their ideas to the main conference with delegates then voting for the most impressive group.

It was double delight for NPT Homes with another of its apprentices, Rory Diplock also making the final. Despite an impressive effort from Rory’s team they were just pipped at the post by Lynsey.

On winning the competition, Lynsey said:
“It was a tough two days, working really hard to come up with ideas and solutions for our task and then reporting back to senior housing professionals in the conference. I’m really proud of the effort my team put in and delighted to have come out on top. I am so thankful to NPT Homes for nominating me to represent them in the contest and really enjoyed the experience.

As a result of the competition I have been asked to give talks in schools about women in construction and I hope I can inspire young girls to consider a career in the industry.”

During the competition, each of the teams had support from experienced professionals in the housing sector who helped and encouraged their teams through the two days. One such mentor was NPT Homes Tenancy Relations Officer Donna Williams, herself a finalist in the Chartered Institute of Housing’s Rising Star competition earlier this year.

Speaking about the competition, Donna said:
“It was a great experience mentoring one of the teams in this year’s Welsh Apprentice Challenge. Having been through a similar experience earlier this year, I was able to pass on what I had learned to the competitors. I was pleased to see Lynsey and her team come out on top and Rory’s team also perform strongly as I know how much work they both put in during the competition. They’re both a great asset to NPT Homes and hope they have a long and successful career with the organisation.”