July Apprentice of the Month
Nina Cruise
Social Impact Manager
We’re delighted to announce that Nina Cruise, LDN Sustainability Professional apprentice at All Together Cumbria is our LDN Apprentice of the Month for July!
Nominated by Skills Coach Andrea Zick, Nina is one of our LDN Sustainability Professional apprentices who has made an outstanding impact throughout her apprenticeship. Alongside her commitment to learning and development, she has consistently gone above and beyond in her role, championing opportunities for others, building strong relationships with stakeholders and helping to drive meaningful social value within her community. Her passion, professionalism and dedication to making a difference have made her a valued member of her team and a truly deserving winner of this month's award.
Explore all of our fantastic July nominations, along with Nina’s winning submission and amazing feedback from her line manager, Andrew Dodds, below 👇
Nina’s Skills Coach:
Since joining the LDN Sustainability Professional programme, Nina has consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to learning, maintaining excellent engagement despite managing a particularly busy period delivering major employability and community projects.
Nina produces high-quality evidence and has recently submitted two excellent Portfolio of Evidence pieces, demonstrating her ability to apply apprenticeship learning directly to workplace practice. Her work on horizon scanning and the development of the Foundations First employability programme showcased her strategic thinking, stakeholder engagement skills and commitment to creating positive social impact for young people in West Cumbria.
Nina goes above and beyond to maximise every development opportunity available to her. Alongside her apprenticeship, she actively engages in mentoring, networking events and strategic projects focused on green skills, inclusion and workforce development. Her growing expertise has also led to plans for her to deliver a Social Value masterclass alongside her line manager for CBRE Academy.
Most notably, Nina was recently awarded the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award at the Morgan Sindall Supply Chain Awards, recognising the significant impact she is making through her work. Nina's professionalism, enthusiasm and dedication to creating opportunities for others make her a truly outstanding apprentice.
Nina’s Line Manager:
How has Nina improved/impacted the business and the team since she started her apprenticeship?
Nina has continued to go from strength to strength in her role, applying the knowledge and skills that she has acquired as part of her apprenticeship. Just 18 months since starting at All Together Cumbria, the apprenticeship has enabled Nina to take a leading role in the operations of the social enterprise, researching and subsequently delivering a comprehensive social impact plan that is driven by local need. Following the ethos of All Together Cumbria, Nina demonstrates great collaboration skills in bringing together a wide range of stakeholders, including the supply chain and delivery partners, to maximise impact.
What three words best describe Nina?
Passionate, amiable and hard-working.
Nina has a great passion for her work, driven by a real desire to help others realise their potential and ambition. This is facilitated by her hard-working ethos, meaning All Together Cumbria punches above its weight in the delivery of social impact, all whilst Nina is also completing her apprenticeship. Nina’s amiable nature means that she connects and builds rapport with all those she works with, ranging from programme participants to senior management.
Can you share an example of an outstanding piece of work, project or task Nina has worked on.
Having identified a rising tide of young adults who are NEET (not in education, employment or training) in West Cumbria, Nina designed and delivered a Foundations First employability programme to help NEETs explore and pursue careers within the construction sector. The programme has proved to be highly successful with a 90% completion rate and average attendance of 77%. One of the programme participants, who subsequently secured a job following a work placement on the programme, took part in the launch of a NEET Zero campaign by the local MP earlier this month. He also met with the Minister for Skills, the Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern, to share his experience and the support Nina’s programme provided in helping him secure work, with a view to influencing government policy in response to concerns over NEETs.
Here’s what was said about the other brilliant nominees:
Soraya Edwards @ London Luton Airport
Soraya encapsulates what it means to be an apprentice and grasp opportunities with both hands. She's curious, humbly confident and consistently rises above the expected standard, and her work is always high-quality and clearly well thought through. During our progress reviews, she brings fresh knowledge and approaches, and is a great problem solver. I always look forward to our meetings, knowing everything will be up to date and work handed in on time – which means we can focus on how to stretch and challenge her, as she's consistently ahead of where she needs to be. Feedback from her line manager is consistently strong, and she's simply a pleasure to have on the course.
Elisabeth Mitchell @ Surrey County Council
Libby has made brilliant progress since joining the LDN Community Engagement Academy, growing noticeably in confidence – something her manager at work has also recognised. She's always keen to develop, regularly asking for feedback and acting on it straight away, which comes through clearly in her evidence pieces as they continue to improve in quality and depth. She takes ownership of her learning, comes to sessions prepared, and has never fallen behind on her training plan or evidence. Her commitment and attitude truly stand out.
Tristen Haden-Lubeck @ Betfred
Tristen is curious and keen to learn – the ideal apprentice. He's a real pleasure to support, and his learning journals are always a highlight: thoughtful, detailed and genuinely enjoyable to read, showing how much effort he puts into reflecting on what he's doing and how he can improve. He consistently shows initiative, looks for ways to develop himself and isn't afraid to challenge how things are done to make them better. Highly engaged and collaborative, he takes real ownership of his development and is already making a positive impact.
Rachel Evans @ Cambridge University Press
Rachel puts corporate responsibility and sustainability principles at the heart of everything she does. Her enthusiasm and energy are brilliantly illustrated by winter marathon training and baking her own cakes – raising around £1,000. She continues to spread her wings, offering her expertise on digital exams and content for sustainable catering guidelines, and encouraging colleagues to take up pen recycling. She completed a green stocktake and presented it to the company as part of World Environment Day, attracting further interest, and she also inspires apprentices with her innovative portfolio ideas.
Heidi Alexander @ Manchester University Press
Heidi has shown huge determination – breaking into publishing despite being based in the north of England, where opportunities are far fewer; managing a huge daily commute; and clearing a seemingly insurmountable backlog of book dispatch. Always burning with curiosity, she seizes every chance to learn from colleagues and volunteered to help out at the Northern Publishers' Fair, promoting their books alongside the apprenticeship. She also suggested setting up a buddying scheme to help lone apprentices form bonds with others, and enthusiastically supports LDN Ambassador Matt too. Heidi embodies all that is positive about being an apprentice.
Emily Wadia @ Carlisle Support Services
Emily has never failed to meet the targets set for her, and is always in touch about any areas she's unsure of, to make sure her submissions are the best they can be. In work, Emily has proven herself to be a valued and supportive member of staff. She has consistently had amazing feedback from her line manager at every review, and is always striving to expand her knowledge and skills so she can support others within her team and the wider business. Her confidence, ability and technical skill have grown significantly since day one, and it’s honestly a pleasure to work with her.