Brad Parke

An apprenticeship from Lakes College could be your ticket to see the world – and 22-year-old Brad Parke is proof of it.

Brad, who completed a Level 3 Mechanical Engineering apprenticeship at the Lillyhall college, recently spent several months repairing ships in Brazil; a mere 5,000 miles from the site of his regular workplace, Forth Engineering’s site at Flimby.

And Brad’s journey started at Lillyhall, where he got the skills and knowledge needed to make a difference all over the world.

“It was good; it gave me a bit of insight into everything,” said Brad, who has also experienced working offshore in the North Sea on a recent trip.

“It’s what I’ve always been into, hands-on work.

“I’ve never been academic really and it was a lot of being practical, which I try to be as much as I can be.”

The blend of learning theory and getting real experience of doing the job appealed to Brad and gave him the perfect route into his desired career.

“Straight away I knew it was what I wanted to do,” he added.

“The variation stood out to me; I didn’t know what I was going to do from one day to the next.

“The classroom learning gave you a bit more detail of what you were trying to learn at work and that background.”

Brad, who is from Cleator Moor, has become a trusted member of the team at Forth, working his way up since those days on a work placement helping as a schoolboy.

The former Keswick School pupil was selected by EM&I, one of Forth’s partners, for the globe-trotting trip.