Letitia Redfern celebrated a successful day at the Institute of Meat (IOM) Awards by winning the Best Multiple Retailer Butchery Apprentice award. Read on to find out how Leticia learned the meat trade to become an award winning butchery apprentice and an integral member of her employers’ team at Booker Ltd.
Letitia’s route to a butchery apprenticeship
Letitia is a strong-minded person who comes from a background of fish mongering and butchery. Her grandmother was a big influence on her deciding to join the food industry, providing tips and lessons in the basics of butchery.
Letitia began her journey within a butchery department in Carlisle at the age of eighteen. Here, she was able to utilise her skills and develop her knowledge of butchery. In 2015, aged twenty-two, she started an internal training programme. More experienced butchers trained, guided, and pushed her to strive for success.
Following her internal training programme Letitia became butchery manager. She then began a Level 3 Advanced Butcher Apprenticeship with her training provider, Plumpton College. Letitia believes this was a great opportunity for her career in the meat industry. She described one of her strengths as “a willingness to learn” and went on to develop her learning through her butchery apprenticeship - achieving the following awards,
· FDQ Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
· FDQ Level 3 Award in Health and Safety in the Food Supply Chain Business
· FDQ Level 3 Certificate for Proficiency in Meat and Poultry Industry Skills
Preparing for end-point assessment
Letitia used several preparation techniques for her EPA. As well as practising everyday tasks with her employer, she spent time reading over example knowledge test questions and researching specific topics. Learning to manage time, Letitia says, was another technique that helped her in the end-point assessment to complete practical activities within a strict time limit. Additionally, going over specific tasks that she felt she needed to perfect.
On the day of the assessment Letitia felt comfortable working with FDQ’s Independent Examiner who she says explained every step of the EPA and the process.
Letitia offers this advice to apprentices, “Anybody with aims of going into an EPA, try and speak to someone who has already done one so then you know more of what to expect on your EPA day.”
Letitia’s future plans
Letitia has dedicated years of hard work to achieve her current success, but is keen to achieve further awards, accolades and to progress in the food industry. She would even like to achieve the Institute of Meat Accredited Master Butcher Award in the future. She says her butchery apprenticeship and end-point assessment helped shape her future, and that “Anybody who gets the chance to do it, it’s a great experience with great opportunities”.
To find out more about Level 2 & Level 3 butchery end-point assessments see below,
Level 2 Butcher End-point Assessment: https://www.fdq.org.uk/l2-butcher
Level 3 Advanced Butcher End-point Assessment: https://www.fdq.org.uk/l3advbutcher