Winners past and present gather at King’s Lynn college to mark award anniversary

An evening of celebration marked the 40th anniversary of an award presented in memory of a former college apprentice.

The College of West Anglia (CWA) commemorated the anniversary of the Kevin Clarke Award - recognising endeavour in electrical installation work over four decades.

This year’s winners were Hope Kemp from Leaping Hare Renewables for the first-year award and Reece Yeoman from Rollins Group for the second-year award.

The award was established in 1984 and is presented yearly to two electrical apprentice students who have shown the highest level of personal achievement and development during the academic year.

It is presented by family members in honour of Kevin, a former college electrical apprentice who died following a car crash.

Previous award winners attended the celebration event and shared how the award had shaped their personal and professional journeys.

Past winner, Oliver Bingham, said: "I must thank the college for starting my career. Still in the industry after class of 87-88.”

While Paul Manning said: “I’m still enjoying being an electrician, even if it’s desk-bound – 34 years has gone in a flash.”

There were speeches from past winners and guests enjoyed a nostalgic look back at photographs and memorabilia.

CWA principal, David Pomfret, said: “This is the 40th anniversary of the awards and we wanted to celebrate this incredible milestone by inviting the former award winners to this special evening.

“The college is extremely grateful for its long association with the Clarke family through these awards. And I was delighted that we were able to have three generations of the Clarke family celebrating with us.”