A student from Burnley is celebrating after picking up an award.

Shelley Gill is now encouraging other people to follow their dreams.

She began as a receptionist and progressed to take more responsibility, having now worked for 20 years at the East Lancashire Healthcare Trust.

In 2021 she went to study an apprenticeship at Nelson & Colne College as part of her management training programme.

And now she has picked up a prize for her work.

The 46-year-old went up against three others to win in the Higher Apprentice category in the Lancashire Apprenticeship Awards.

The prizes aim to provide a platform to reward organisations and institutions and took place at Lancaster University.

Shelley attended with Julie Garrigan, her accessor at Nelson and Colne College, mentor Tracy Ball and partner Dave.

She said: “I can’t believe it. I did not think I was going to win the category! I was honoured just to be nominated by Julie. I wasn't expecting it.

“I’m so proud of what I’ve achieved – and I’m thrilled that my hard work has been recognised by others. It is challenging studying for an apprenticeship while you’re working full time – but it goes to show that anything is possible.”

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Shelley encouraged anyone of any age to continue their studies.

She added: “If there's anybody out there that is thinking about doing an apprenticeship, just go for it.

“I've had the best experience and the best two years. I've learned so much, and I've had so much support from Nelson & Colne College Group.

“Once you qualify, those are skills you’ll have for life.”

Shelley will soon be putting her new skills into practice.

She has already identified a project to showcase her project management skills – which aims to standardise procedures across the 12 health centres across the trust to improve training, booking and patient experience.

She said: “Before enrolling on the apprenticeship, I wouldn’t have tried to tackle this because I wouldn't know where to start – and now I've got the knowledge. My colleagues say I've grown in confidence, and I regularly share what I’ve learnt with them.”