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MEGT apprentice Luke Bergin has recently been named Master Locksmiths Association Apprentice Locksmith of the Year, earning him not only the title but the trip of a lifetime to Europe. Luke, a fourth-year apprentice locksmith at Ruswin in Townsville, will be heading off to Italy and Germany in 2016 to tour factories and see how the equipment of his trade is produced.
Luke worked hard to take out the title, putting in time before and after work in the lead up to the competition to practice and get faster at the five components tested on the day – Picking, Impressioning, Lockfitting, Master Keying and General Knowledge. Speaking about his win, Luke said it was unexpected but felt great.
“It’s just good to be recognised for the achievement,” Luke said.
Luke also spoke about how much he has enjoyed his time as an apprentice locksmith, and especially the diversity of the role.
“Nothing is ever the same and I’ve been able to take something out of everything that I have done and apply that later on down the track to another job,” he said.
Once he completes his current apprenticeship, Luke plans to undertake a second apprenticeship in electronic security.
Luke’s employer Glen Westhorp was thrilled to see his apprentice take the top prize.
“For us and me personally it was just reward for the effort he has put in, you get out what you put in. I was just proud that he got to put be at the conference itself – that was a pretty big deal. We didn’t do it for any other reason other than to just challenge him,” said Glen.
Luke was one of three apprentices from Ruswin to enter this year’s competition and the second Ruswin apprentice to take out the prestigious award in the last five years.
“We need apprentices to follow in the footsteps of people who have been here before. We like to grow our own, we have much more success rate with training our own people and it’s proven that most of them stay on, “ said Glen when speaking about Ruswin’s apprentices.
Glen also won a trip to Europe as a result of Luke being named Apprentice Locksmith of the Year and has donated his ticket to the runner-up in the competition.
