ROCHFORD teenager Kelly Castle has secured an all-out, belter of a dream job.

The 19-year-old cricket superfan, who also plays for Essex Women’s Cricket, is now an apprentice at Essex County Cricket Club promoting and developing the sport for women and girls throughout the county.

Kelly, who went to King Edmund’s School in Rochford and has been playing cricket since the age of 13, said: “I really have found my dream job. When I finish I will have an NVQ 3 qualification and then I plan to go to university to study sports science.”

She got the job thanks to Essex-based employment and skills specialist Seetec.

Her first assignment just a month into the job was staging the end-of-season presentation evening for 140 people for Essex Women’s Cricket, based at the ECCC in Chelmsford.

She said: “I was quite nervous because it was such a big event – I had to put together the information packs, email them all out, order all the meals and organise the table plans, but I had good support.

“Now, as part of my apprenticeship project, I’m involved in organising a festival aimed at over 18s for next summer and I’m trying to get different teams involved across both sexes.

“I love everything about my new role. I get a lot of support from Seetec, too, as they come in and help me with my online learning.”

Samantha Duce, Skills Centre Leader, from Seetec said: “Kelly’s role is a fantastic example of how we are able to help young people go for their dreams. We wish her every success.”

In addition to taking on Kelly as an apprentice for a year, in the past 12 months the club has taken on 12 hospitality and catering trainees.

They are with the club for three months at a time, studying a Level 1 award In Skills for Hospitality and Catering and a Food Safety Level 2 qualification. Seetec is also working with them to improve their maths and English skills.

Darryl Fox, Business Development Manager at the ECCC, said: “We’ve been using Seetec for the past 12 months and it has been so rewarding to see young people like Kelly grow in confidence during their training.

“It also gives us a rich supply of catering trainees who become really valuable members of staff. There is always the opportunity for those who do exceptionally well to become apprentices for a year following this.

“My message to other employers is take a look at this method of recruitment – there is a lot of support from Seetec for both us and the young people who receive the training.”

To find out more email: apprenticeships@seetec.co.uk