Two South East Cornwall apprentices have won top awards at a Cornish ceremony.

Apprentices, their families and colleagues came together to celebrate in style as Truro College’s Gannel Building played host to the 2016 Cornwall Apprenticeship Awards.

Moving from volunteer, to managing and running an entire pre-school within less than a term may sound impossible, but that’s exactly what was achieved by Cornwall’s 2016 Apprentice of the Year, 36-year-old Emma Ferguson from Harrowbarrow and Metherell Pre-School in Callington.

After being a volunteer and committee member at the Pre-school for several years, Emma, who lives in Callington, was recruited as a temporary member of staff in the summer of 2015. With the Deputy Setting Leader leaving the pre-school during this period, Emma successfully applied for the position, having already identified an apprenticeship training programme that would enable her to become qualified in just over a year.

Emma was delighted that her efforts meant she’d won the overall apprentice of the year award and is looking forward to moving onto a new challenge with the pre-school.

’I’m completely overwhelmed,’ she said of winning the award. ’I was absolutely honoured to be nominated and to actually win it is unbelievable, it feels a bit surreal.’

Professional cookery apprentice Lucy Wilton, from the Eden Project, was awarded Achiever of the Year.