Hampshire County Council apprentice bags award thanking his success as an elite swimmer

Neil Redman, from Portsmouth, started working for Hampshire County Council as a project officer in February after completing his sports psychology studies at the University of Portsmouth.

Earlier this month he was awarded the authority’s Chairman’s Award, which is considered to be the most prestigious prize for an apprentice.

He was presented with the trophy by the chairman of county council, Councillor Charles Choudhary, at the culmination of the fifth annual Chairman’s Apprentice Awards at the Great Hall, in Winchester.

Cllr Choudhary said: ‘Neil is a real asset to the county council, an exemplar employee and team player and is also a popular role model for others.’

Neil works in a team that oversees the governance, finances, resourcing and performance monitoring of multiple capital and commercial programmes for the County Council.

Alongside his job, Neil is a current record holder, having broken the British Masters record for 100m breaststroke in 2016 – a record which still stands.

Despite already having his Master’s degree, Neil was attracted to the county council apprenticeship programme for the opportunity it offered to gain an additional vocational qualification, directly relevant to his work at the authority.

Although his level four associate project manager apprenticeship is far removed from his days as an elite swimmer, Neil believes that his drive and self-discipline comes from his pool training.

He said: ‘What I’ve applied from the pool into my work and apprenticeship at Hampshire County Council is the determination to tackle new challenges, motivation to strive for excellence and to work to multiple objectives.

‘I was honoured just to be nominated, let alone win the Chairman’s Award, so the announcement, at the end of the awards ceremony, came as a complete shock to me.

‘My apprenticeship journey has been very flexible and has been developed and tailored to suit the demands of my job. I am grateful for the support of my line manager and for being involved in a number of important and interesting projects.’