Eight apprentices from New College Durham have received grants from Lord Crewe’s Durham Educational Foundation to help them with their studies.
Matthew Barron and Jordan Dudding carpentry and joinery apprentices, Mark Rivett, Peter Errington and James Kelly electrical apprentices, Christopher Coulson motor vehicle apprentice and Craig Shead sport apprentice all recently received £100 from the Lord Crewe charity, based in Durham.
On his death in 1721 Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, left all his properties to be administrated in trust for charitable purposes. Grants from his Educational Foundation are available to students living and studying in the City of Durham on a manufacturing, technology or science course.
Matthew Barron, 25 years old from Newton Hall, said: “I first heard about the charity through my Work Based Liaison Officer at college. I was so pleased to receive the grant and I have spent it on tools, which I needed but didn’t have, including a Mitre Saw and an Electric Planer. I think it’s a great charity and anything that helps an apprentice buy tools is a good thing. I think apprenticeships are very important in today’s climate because skilled trades are still required, and always will be required, and when the economy picks up there will be qualified people to take on new work”.