Luke didn’t know much about 
apprenticeships before he started one but he would certainly recommend it to others now:
“Getting the apprenticeship and leaving school has really focussed me. Coming out of school you can often be clueless and this helps put you on the right track. My confidence has been boosted massively as I’m working with many different groups such as young people in trouble with the police and others with special needs and I feel confident in giving help and advice.”
Luke’s is studying Building Maintenance at Lambeth College but with Southbank Mosaics he’s designing and making mosaics, as well as keeping the studio stocked and tidy and fit for purpose. As Luke says, “Mosaics are part of architecture, the surface of buildings and we make stuff which goes out into public space – so we’re street artists.”
About Southbank Mosaics
Southbank Mosaics design and make public spaces more attractive, producing world-class mosaic art. They want to broaden the horizons of urban planners, local politicians and developers – encouraging them to add colour, character, detail and interest to our public spaces.
They are a social enterprise and have gifted about £2 million worth of art to the community through projects such as Blake’s Lambeth – which saw the installation of 70 mosaics dedicated to the artist around the Waterloo Station area and involved 300 volunteers.
For the past decade Southbank Mosaics have also worked with young offenders, homeless people and children and adults with special needs.
About employing an apprentice
David Toothill, from Southbank Mosaics, contacted the Love Lambeth blog last month to nominate Luke:
“I want to nominate our apprentice, Luke Bryant, for your next apprentice of the month. He lives and works in North Lambeth and has made a huge impact to our social enterprise …. It would be difficult to imagine us coping without him and he is worth his weight in gold.”
Southbank Mosaics chose to hire an apprentice so they could pass on their skills to the younger generation. They were concerned whether an apprentice would be able to stay the course but have made sure that the right support mechanisms are in place and that the training has real value for the apprentice.
David can see Luke going on to become an accomplished mosaicist and is keen to take on another apprentice later this year. Southbank Mosaics plans to set up the London School of Mosaics in the near future.
Do you employ an apprentice you’d like to nominate?
