A COVENTRY apprentice has received a prestigious Oddfellows Educational Award so she can continue her training as an aspiring optician assistant.
Kerry Luckett, 33, from Eastern Green, will receive a £250 grant every year towards her training as an apprentice at the Cheylesmore Specsavers store.
A member of the Oddfellows’ Coventry Godiva Branch, Kerry said she was shocked at being selected.
“No more than three apprenticeship awards are given nationally each year.
“I am very honoured to receive an award.”
The cash will go towards a new laptop which will help Kerry in the classroom aspects of her apprenticeship.
She added: “With all the work I’ll have to do it’ll be much easier than using my iPad.
“I can take my laptop and access all my work much more easily.”
The apprenticeship is the next step in Kerry’s career, which could ultimately see her become a fully-fledged Optical Assistant.
She will be learning how to pre-test patients, dispense glasses and order and dispense contact lenses, which she says she is really taking to as she is starting to wear contact lenses herself.
Kerry added: “I’ll be doing everything on the shop floor.
“It will then give me the opportunity to go further and become a Dispensary Optician which will qualify me to do everything but an eye test.
“I’ll be able to problem-solve and help people who struggle to adapt to wearing glasses. It would also give me the opportunity to go as far as I can and eventually become an Optician.”
Every year, the Oddfellows, of which Kerry has been a part of since the age of five, awards grants to successful applicants from its membership as part of an educational support scheme.
Its recipients could be studying a university degree for the first time, or like Kerry, taking an apprenticeship route.
Kerry said: “The Oddfellows is a way of life. It’s family. It’s friendship. It’s everything, really.
“I’m so incredibly grateful for this support.”
Oddfellows CEO Jane Nelson said: “We wish Kerry all the best in her apprenticeship and hope this award will help her to get the most out of her training.”
To find out more about the Oddfellows’ friendship groups and the activities of the branch in and around Coventry, call 0800 028 1810, email [email protected] or visit www.oddfellows.co.uk
