Nathaniel Allford always knew he would complete a trade, but what he could not have predicted was being recognised for his trades training excellence on the Victorian stage.  

Nathaniel recently completed his four-year carpentry apprenticeship, during which he developed a passion for his industry and has built the foundations of a rewarding career.  

“I sort of had an inkling that I always wanted to be a builder,” he said.  

“I was always using dad’s tools in the shed and just building stuff so when I was offered a job at Bruce Lee Builders I went for it. 

“I just feel like every carpenter makes a difference in the community because, you know, they put in a lot of physical hard work to create something for clients, especially with homes.  

“It’s good to be part of that impact on the community.” 

Nathaniel describes his time at SuniTAFE as both rewarding and supportive.  

“Studying at SuniTAFE was really good,” he said.  

“I hated school so to come back to school was hard. But having Mat, Jeff, and Jason to be there to help me through the book work helped me a lot. The prac side of it was great though and a lot easier than the bookwork. 

“If anyone is going to get into the trade, I think you need to be at SuniTAFE.” 

Nathaniel’s passion and hard work during his time at SuniTAFE has earned him the honour of Apprentice of the Year finalist at this year’s Victorian Training Awards.  

“This experience has been an eye opener,” he said.  

“I didn’t think I would make it this far and I think there’s probably a lot of people that would have been nominated for it so I thought there was not a high chance that I was going to make it, but it feels really good and I’m so proud of myself just to be nominated.” 

Part of Nathaniel’s selection as a finalist was due to his advocacy for mateship and men’s mental health.  

“Just staying close to your mates is something that’s really important to me,” he said.  

“We have to just make sure our mates are okay and really stay on top of that mental health side of things.”  

Nathaniel will attend the Victorian Training Awards gala with his partner and his parents.  

“I’m excited just to go to the event because I’ve never been to anything like that before,” he said.  

“While I’m there, hopefully I’ll get to hear about other people’s work and I’m interested to see who else is there.” 

The next step for Nathaniel after the awards is to travel the country.  

“I want to start travelling,” he said.  

“My goal is to travel around Australia, and I’ll work on the road as well, just trying to get opportunities to gain a lot more knowledge in carpentry across different states and the regulations that are different and just learn as much as I can.”  

Nathaniel extends his thanks to everyone who supported him throughout his apprenticeship, including his partner and family who stood by him on bad days, SuniTAFE’s Carpentry team, SMGT, and Bruce Lee Builder who had him on board for his four years of study.  

If you would like to read more about the Victorian Training Awards and SuniTAFE’s three student finalists, click here.