Caught on Cam-era

Award-winning apprentice Cameron Wood stars in this year’s film for Scottish Apprenticeship Week

A picture of Cameron Wood, with symbols often seen on a camera lens superimposed

It’s been quite a year for Cameron Wood, who’s seen his professional work recognised at the highest level and is now inspiring other would-be electrical apprentices on the small screen.

After picking up the 2021 SJIB Apprentice of the Year award in December and appearing on the cover of CABLEtalk, the 21-year-old stars in the latest special SELECT video for Scottish Apprenticeship Week (SAW).

Entitled Supporting People, Employers and the Economy – the theme of this year’s SAW – the film sees Cameron discussing the many benefits of an electrical apprenticeship.

Filmed on location at a project in the Borders, Cameron explained why he chose an electrical career, revealing: “I always found electricity quite interesting at school, in physics and engineering science – it was always the bit I was good at.

“In high school we only scratched the surface of understanding how electricity works, but in college we went into depth which was really interesting.

“You’re actually doing it and seeing how it works in person, rather than sitting in a classroom looking at a drawing board.”

Cameron, who attended Borders College in Galashiels, Roxburghshire, went on: “An apprenticeship gives you a trade which is universal and can be used anywhere in the world really. Plus you’re getting paid from a young age – and the wage is quite good.

“Every day is totally different. One day you can be in a house, another you’re at a farm or industrial site, so it changes all the time. It’s really interesting and such a vast field, which I really like. In school you don’t always want to be in class, but I want to be here and want to learn, which really pushes me on.”

Cameron also revealed one of the projects of which he’s most proud, saying: “We did a house in a village called Stow that was a new build, just from total start to finish. There were downlights everywhere, outside lights and LED tape in the kitchen, and it all looked really good when it was finished. It was great to see the customer smiling at the end – he was really pleased with it.”

The video also features an interview with Cameron’s boss at J S Hardie Electrical, David Hardie, who believes apprenticeships provide unrivalled grounding for the journey ahead.

He said: “Apprenticeships are important as you need apprentices coming through to ensure there’s new blood and keep the supply of tradesmen going.

“Apprentices do learn a lot of things that they might not necessarily use to start with, and depending where they work they might not cover everything on the job immediately. But very quickly they hopefully learn to do other things and get bigger and bigger jobs to do themselves as they progress. Certainly Cameron brought a lot of enthusiasm and was very keen and interested. He showed a lot of interest in things and asked a lot of relevant questions.”

Now available to view on SELECT’s YouTube channel, the video was made in partnership with the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB), the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) and Unite the Union.

Fiona Harper, Director of Employment and Skills at SELECT, and also The Secretary of the SJIB, said: “In this latest video, Cameron follows in the footsteps of other apprentices in Scotland who have outlined the many advantages of their training.

“We will now use it to spread the message about apprenticeships far and wide and encourage more people to consider the electrical industry as a rewarding career option.”