V&D Interiors, Telford’s own drylining and plastering specialists, held a trial day for potential plastering apprentices at their on-site training academy, now branded as Shropshire Training Academy.

Both V&D and SBC Training, who are running the course in partnership, set up a trial day for some of their applicants to come in and a hands-on experience for them to make their final decisions on pushing forward with their applications and taking the final step towards a career in plastering.

The event had 11 trialists mostly aged 16-18, make their way to the academy on Thursday 6th April to learn more about the course and try their hand at the basic aspects of the skill of plastering.

Teacher Paul was there to run the session, giving the applicants a fun and informative lesson while telling them stories from his 40 years as a plasterer. Paul taught them all how to carry 25kg plasterboards safely down a track and work as a team in doing so, before giving them a chance to test their individual strength, showing them how to lift and carry a 25kg bag of plaster efficiently and safely. All the applicants completed the tasks successfully, even making it look easy under the expertise of Paul.

Paul then gave them a visual masterclass in mixing plaster. After donning his PPE, he showed the students how to correctly mix the plaster correctly to get a perfect consistency. Paul then got to work, giving the applicants a masterclass in plastering on various types of plasterboard, demonstrating the skill behind getting the perfect smooth layer of plaster. The applicants then got their chance to plaster for the first time, taking it in turns to step forward and replicate what they had been shown, with some students showing great excitement in taking pictures of their work to show family and friends.

After their experience, Paul answered plenty of questions on not only the course, but his life experiences plastering and what he loves about the trade.

The day was a resounding success, with Colin and Amanda from SBC training getting a chance to chat with the applicants during and after the session, with all but one applicant eager to push forward with the process and get the next round of interviews underway.

Colin received some feedback from some of the applicants such as Lewis saying, “I thought it was really enjoyable, makes me want to push forward with it and hopefully move on to the next stage of the application”, and Thierry saying, “I thoroughly enjoyed it, I really want to look at it (Plastering) as a career option now.”