A manufacturing apprentice from GlaxoSmithKline in Ulverston has picked up an accolade at the national School Leaver Awards in London.

Sam Coulson, aged 18, from the town, was amongst nine youngsters across the country who won the awards.

Mr Coulson, a GSK manufacturing apprentice, has been a driving force behind the company’s local asthma awareness campaign in memory of 11-year-old Josh West, also from Ulverston.

The campaign, which helped GSK apprentices secure a place in the national finals of the Brathay Apprentice Challenge, is aimed at young people and has involved them in delivering presentations to schools, colleges and youth and sports organisations in Cumbria.

In total, there were 36 categories, which included skills development, career progression, training and company culture. The winners were shortlisted by an industry panel.

Sam said: “I’m absolutely over the moon about winning this award.

“It’s not something I expected at all, and hopefully it will spur me on to achieve more and more as my career develops.”

The awards also revealed the UK’s top employers for school leavers following nationwide employee satisfaction surveys of young people working in the school leaver training world, covering issues such as job satisfaction, career progression, company culture and work life balance. GSK was amongst the top 40 employers in the UK for school leavers, and was also accredited as a top employer in the science and fast moving consumer goods award category.

Terry Sandham, who is an apprentice programme manager at GSK Ulverston, said: “It is great news for the whole apprenticeship development team here that Sam has been placed amongst a peer group of some of the most talented and highly rated school leavers in the country.”

Mr Sandham added: “It’s testament to all the hard work Sam has put in during his apprenticeship, as is the case with all our apprentices, to successfully bridge the gap between school and the world of industry.”