The National Apprenticeship Awards 2021 also recognised how employers and apprentices are contributing to business recovery and highlighting those who have shown their ongoing resilience as we move toward a post Covid-19 world through ‘Apprentices in Action’.
Apprentices submitted their stories, verified by their employer, as entries for this years’ Special Recognition Award in association with EY – with the winner announced as Paige Orwig from AstraZeneca.
When COVID-19 pandemic was declared and the UK went into lockdown, Paige Orwig was part of a team of Drug Metabolism Pharmacokinetic scientist’s whose work was considered by the government to be essential research for cancer research and as such, when lab work was required, scientists made the exceptional effort to continue to visit the site and carry out their work under extraordinary circumstances.
In April 2020 it was announced that AstraZeneca, GSK and the University of Cambridge would be collaborating to build a lighthouse COVID-19 testing lab. Paige immediately volunteered for this opportunity, willing to put her time, effort and expertise into the fight against this global pandemic.
Within her main role in sample preparation Paige quickly established herself as an organised, professional and extremely capable scientist and within weeks was assigned as deputy team lead for her sample preparation room.
Paige adjusted her study time around her new role, and through all the adversity was successful in her Chemistry Foundation Degree in Chemical Sciences at the University of Kent as well the SIAS Laboratory Scientist Level 5 Apprenticeship with a distinction.
Paige’s exceptional and voluntary support of the Cambridge COVID-19 Test Centre shows her passion for science and improving the lives of patients across all disease areas. Paige quickly became an integral member of the team at the test centre and her hard work posed as an inspiration to her colleagues and fellow apprentices.
