SIX young people who have worked on projects including international festivals and new communications platforms have been awarded degrees.

The group of apprentices at Northumbrian Water have completed their course with the University of Sunderland

The group embarked on their Degree Apprenticeships in Information Services, run by the water company and the university, in 2016 and have spent the last three years working on a range of projects as they combined earning and learning.

Work carried out by the team has ranged from helping to organise Northumbrian Water’s annual Innovation Festivals which attract thousands of people to the North-East from around the world, to leading on the development of the company’s first Alexa Skill, to helping deliver information security services.

The six apprentices are Amber Swift, from Quarrington Hill, Emily Tomlinson, from Durham, Erin Bryden, from Whitley Bay, Josh Laddie, from Chester-le-Street, Mark Ireland, from Sunderland, and Olivia Dale, from Redcar.

Tracey Greener, from Northumbrian Water, said: “A lot of people don’t realise that apprenticeships are available at a number of different levels, including those for people who want to work towards a degree.

“It’s been fantastic to see them thrive, working alongside colleagues at all levels to do some really important and often groundbreaking and innovative work.”