A female engineering apprentice at Pleasure Beach Resort is calling for women to join the industry as they are still under represented in the field in 2024.
Laura Johnston, 17, helps carry out all kinds of safety checks on rides and rollercoasters at one the UK's favourite theme parks.
She says she now does the job she has always dreamed of.
Laura Johnston, 17, helps carry out all kinds of safety checks on rides and rollercoasters at one the UK's favourite theme parks.
She says she now does the job she has always dreamed of.
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00:00 Hi, I'm Laura. I'm a mechanical engineering apprentice in my first year.
00:04 I'm from North London and I emailed Pleasure Beach on January 2nd 2023 and explained who I was,
00:15 explained why I was contacting them and they came back to me, asked me to give them a phone call
00:21 and then said that they wanted to meet me. I came down, I met some of the team and they asked me to
00:25 come back and do two days of work experience after I finished my GCSEs. So I came back in
00:30 July of last year and completed two days of work experience and was offered an apprenticeship and
00:35 moved to Blackpool. I've always loved being able, being really hands-on with what I do.
00:42 I've always struggled sort of with theory work in the classroom and sort of doing things,
00:47 just writing stuff down for hours. I've always found I've loved taking things apart, putting
00:51 things back together, doing a lot of manual work as opposed to a lot of theory work.
00:56 I think it's very much remembering the people that are positive around you. Remember who is there for
01:06 you, remember your team that actually support you. This was taught to me by one of our engineers
01:11 because even I went in here thinking I've got to be strong, I've got to be able to lift what they
01:14 can lift and he kind of stopped me and he's like, "You're going to get yourself injured, slow down
01:19 because your brain can be just as powerful." I'd say just go for it. You can't hold back,
01:27 you can't take your time. Just, if you know what you want to do, go for it. Don't worry about what
01:34 people think, don't worry about what people say. It's really important that you just breathe and
01:39 you just go, know what you want, that's what I did. I set my goal, I knew what I wanted and that's
01:44 why I'm stood here in the ICOM workshop today. Determination is really important. You're never
01:49 going to get anywhere if you don't have determination to do something. Once you get
01:52 that determination, stick with it no matter what people say because it will be worth it in the end.
01:57 I don't think there's anyone on my team who I would say has not helped me at all, especially
02:05 the guys I've been working with. They're brilliant people, they'll answer any question that I have.
02:11 Even from the start, they were getting me involved, they didn't leave me out. A lot of people think
02:16 apprentices are just there to do all the dirty work and all the greasing and all the cleaning,
02:20 but I've been treated like a proper member of the team straight away, even though I was brand new
02:24 and an apprentice. The train that we've got back there, I rebuilt all four seats on those
02:29 and that was just a couple weeks ago. I've done daily and weekly checks on here, I've done daily
02:36 on pretty much every ride. They are very much, they will get you in, they'll help you grow,
02:40 they'll help you develop. When you find a place that you're happy, stay there because this team
02:47 is the best team in the world and I don't think I would ever abandon them. Happy International