24 Oct Local business dominates at national awards ceremony
Gateway Qualifications, a local education business based at the Tollgate Business Park, Colchester, has won two national awards after being shortlisted three times across several categories in the prestigious Federation of Awarding Bodies (FAB) Awards.
The Colchester firm scooped the top award, Awarding Organisation of The Year and Innovation of the Year titles.
Carol Snape, CEO at Gateway Qualifications who has worked for the organisation since 2006 said: “This is such good news for us, we are absolutely delighted. To be shortlisted in three categories is a fabulous achievement, and to win two of those is remarkable.”
“This is down to the hard work of our staff and wider workforce, they work tirelessly to support our centres and make a real difference to the lives of learners
“The important work that we have been doing with the Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has been recognised as Innovation of The Year category. This is a ground-breaking pilot that we have spearheaded, an Essential Digital Skills Qualification (EDSQ) that can be delivered in the ‘secure estate’, but with the parity of a community qualification.”
Ms Snape explained: “Prison education hasn’t kept pace with the skills required by employers, leaving offenders unprepared for the real world, lacking the digital skills they need for employment and life. Many prisoners have never even used or held a digital device.
“Thanks to this innovation, prison learners can access basic digital skills training, previously impossible to deliver in prisons. Improving education is crucial to increasing the employment rate of prison leavers. EDSQ has made vulnerable learners more employable, able to function successfully in an ever-increasing digital world and has contributed positively to prisoners’ mental health and wellbeing.”
The FAB Awards, now in their seventh year, recognise the contributions made by awarding organisations and their employees to education and skills in the UK over the past year.
The awards’ judging criteria are strict, the judges look for excellence, how challenges have been overcome, impact, value, and currency.
The glittering award ceremony was held on Thursday, October 20 at the Marriott Hotel in Leicester.
