Oatridge College award winner

Mar 11 2010 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A STUDENT from West Lothian’s Oatridge College has won two top awards.

Darren Broadley (17), took the title Scotland’s Landbased Learner of the Year and Agricultural Learner of the Year from Lantra, the sector skills council for Scotland – despite having to battle to overcome dyslexia.

He collected his prizes at a ceremony at the Crieff Hydro Hotel, where three other Oatridge students were also among the winners, collectively giving the college five awards on the night.

Agricultural engineer Graeme Brown from Blairgowrie took the prize for the Modern Apprentice of the Year, while Christopher Adamson (16) from Bo’ness was named Equine Learner of the Year and 21-year-old Lee Eaglen, a greenkeeper at the Marriot Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club was runner-up in the Horticultural Learner of the Year category.

Darren Broadley has successfully completed a Modern Apprenticeship in Mixed Farming at Oatridge and has now gone on to study for a Higher National Certificate in agriculture.

He works for dairy farmers John Pollock and Sons at Bonnybridge and lives with his parents at Avonbridge near Falkirk.

What impressed his tutors at Oatridge, his employers and finally the judges was Darren’s enthusiasm for his work, the depth of his knowledge about farming, his ability to retain everything he is told about his job, and his determination to be the best farmer he can be.

He intends to add to his qualifications until he is ready to travel aboard, to the United States and/or Australia and New Zealand, to work and learn more about agriculture.

He hopes on his return to Scotland to move into farm management, eventually running his own operation as a hands-on farmer.

Darren does not come from a direct farming background, but has memories of playing on his grandparents’ smallholding when he was very young and believes that gave him his love of the open air and working on the land.

Although he always struggled at school, he found his niche in life when he had a spell of work experience with his present employer, where he was later taken on full-time.

As well as his trophies, Darren received a cheque for £400.

But he was modest about his achievements and said he was delighted to be given recognition for his work.

Darren said: “I just can’t believe this has happened. I love my job and just getting on with it and never expected that I would win awards or anything.

“Oatridge College helped me a lot and my tutors were very patient when I was struggling because of the dyslexia.”

Darren was also a finalist in the Scottish Modern Apprenticeship Awards earlier in the year.

David James, the Principal of Oatridge, who was present at the awards ceremony, said: “This is a very proud occasion for the college.

“We have traditionally done well in these awards, but I think it is a record for our students to make up a quarter of the finalists, win the overall title, the Modern Apprentice of the Year award, two other category prizes and a runner-up prize.

“Our aims are to support as range of land based industries and through them the rural economy of Scotland, by turning out well educated and trained recruits and giving all our students the opportunity to develop to achieve their full potential. These results suggest we are getting it right.”