Shortlisted for the Fiona Colley Trainee of the Year Award at the Springboard Awards for Excellence 2024

Before joining the programme, Kierra was very quiet and was unsure what route she wanted to take but just wanted to try something. Kierra had lack of confidence and experience and only worked in a warehouse, which was cut short due to Covid.  A mother of 6, Kierra made it clear although she didn’t know what she wanted to do, she was determined to get into work and start a career and this was a attribute that was highlighted for Kierra – determination.

Kierra didn’t have a CV at all due to lack of experience and had been a stay-at-home mum for most her adult life.

Here’s what Kierra had to say about taking part in the Springboard, “I think that the Springboard programme is excellent because it teaches you about all the hospitality roles and the staff are all nice and understanding. It helped me become more confident in myself, as I had a lot of self-doubts in my abilities. The programme helped me understand the variety of roles available and visiting hotels gave me the idea that I wanted to do meetings and events. I liked the fact; I was able to organise and help people. It really helped with my organisation skills and confidence in dealing with different people. What I loved was the opportunity to organise the Graduation for the group – I gave everyone jobs, thought of activities to do and made sure everyone knew what they were doing for the day without family, friends and visitors we had attend.”

Kierra is now working at the Park Plaza Nottingham as a host for Meeting and Events and is loving working there.

To anyone thinking about taking part in a Springboard programme, Kierra would say “that this course has changed my life for the better and Springboard work around you, I would highly recommend Springboard to loads of people as they have changed my life for the better. The opportunities you get are endless, and you just need to take that step and go for it and the believe in you and so would you.”