2024 LSH Auto Australia Scholarship Program
United Kingdom
Applications have now closed. Thank you, and best of luck!
My name is Madeline Chamberlin, and I was honoured to be one of three apprentices selected to travel to the United Kingdom as part of the WPC Group/LSH Auto Scholarship Program. I am currently employed by WPC Group, completing a Certificate III in Light Vehicle Automotive hosted at Mercedes-Benz Brisbane Vans and Commercial (Eagle Farm), through WPC Group.
Thursday morning we hosted a booth at the Sutton Coldfield Grammar Girls School Careers day. Daphne and I excitedly spoke to young women who were contemplating moving into the automotive trade once graduating from school. It truely was an honour to speak to the younger generation, eliminating any concerns regarding gender stereotypes and doubts about females working in automotive – ie: strength and skill set. Ian organised an afternoon walking tour around Birmingham, kindly providing us with umbrellas just in case it rained, thankfully it didn’t. We were filled with the rich knowledge of the historical town learning a lot about Birmingham, such as, it was the birthplace of Cadbury chocolate and that the original FIFA trophy was stolen from one of its stores. Once this was done we piled in the car a headed to Brooklands Race Track next door to Mercedes-Benz World.
Flying out on the 29th of June, we landed in Manchester on Friday at 7:00am, after our 26 hour flight. That time on the plane gave us an opportunity to get to know each other and get well rested for the day ahead. We had the whole weekend to explore the city of Manchester before getting into work. Come Monday morning we headed to Stockport, the largest LSH site in the UK. There we met their Dealer Principal (Stefan Bowett) who took the time to take us on a tour around their incredible dealership. It was genuinely mind blowing, the sheer size and functionality of their workplace. We learnt how all the departments work and how they function together to support their internal and external stakeholders. We spent the Tuesday also at Stockport getting deeper into our various trades. Daphne and I in the Service Workshop and Alex in the Parts Department. They even have a Vans section which I quickly investigated.On our last afternoon at the Stockport Dealership, we were excited to be provided with an opportunity to talk to young students and their parents about our careers to date, and the opportunities the automotive industry provide at a Careers event organised by LSH Auto UK.
Our next port of call was LSH Auto Dealership in Birmingham. We spent all of Wednesday in our various trade departments. We also tried our first Samosa here which was delicious albeit very spicy! Although we only got to spend one day working with the Service team at Birmingham, we learnt a lot on how they do things in the UK, whilst enjoying some friendly banter. It was interesting to see the differences between the countries. After a hard days work we were taken to dinner and then out to an arcade with Ian, Marcus and Kyle. The competition levels were quite high while we competed in racing and curling, with Janine being the self-proclaimed winner for each event.
Once at Brooklands we met Nicholas Wyman (CEO – WPC Group) who joined us on our tour of the Mercedes-Benz World and theMuseum. Filled with content from the very first vehicle created by Mr. Benz to the F1 and the intricacy of building and developing such complicated pieces of machinery. After lunch we headed to the race track. Firstly taking the G400 G Wagon around the four by four course. Learning when to turn on each accessory and letting the car take most of the control. I really enjoyed this as I do a little bit of four wheel driving on weekends. Next we jumped into a C63 for laps around the track. We learnt about traction control and its importance and how to drift on the wet circle. It was an absolute blast! That evening we made our way to London with Nick, ready to wind down from our jam packed week.
On Saturday, our final day together, Daphne, Alex and I roamed free around London seeing all the major tourist attractions. We bonded so much over the course of the week but to spend the last day together topped it all off nicely. We had our last dinner with Nick at a funky Thai dinner place. It was a bitter sweet farewell Sunday morning to farewell Alex and Daphne as they headed home.
I was privileged to be able to spend a couple more weeks in the UK afterwards. My partner flew over and we travelled around in a converted van seeing the small country towns and coastal areas. We even got to stop at Jeremy Clarkson’s farm, Diddly Squat.
I feel so very honoured to have been granted the UK scholarship, therefore becoming an ambassador for our brand. We saw so many amazing things, met quality people and were given chances I never thought possible. I’ve enjoyed sharing this experience with my workplace. It is a fantastic opportunity for apprentices to strive for. It is really encouraging that our employers are so kind in providing these opportunities for us to work towards. Overall, a huge thank you to everyone whom worked so hard to organise everything resulting in an unforgettable experience.