Teenager Nyle Cotton had “the best time” after Northern Gas Networks linked up with Sunderland College to give him a hands-on week of work experience – and he’s now determined to apply for one of our apprenticeships this summer on the road to becoming an engineer.

Nyle, who’s 19 and lives in Sunderland, is studying a Diploma in Engineering Operations and was desperate to find a work experience placement, but had been left disappointed until he was offered a placement at our depot in Newcastle.

He shadowed colleagues who were conducting surveys, inspecting gas mains, investigating gas escapes, assessing safety compliance and many other tasks too – part of the team helping to shape the future of energy to prepare for the transition to net zero.

Nyle left school at 16, and before his Diploma he completed a Level 2 qualification in Performing Engineering Operations, specialising in welding.

Nyle has faced huge challenges, including being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2020, but now hopes he’s on the road to a rewarding and fulfilling career.

He said: “It was a really exciting week and I’m so grateful I got to do it. I didn’t expect I would get the chance as I’ve found it really, really hard to get work experience placements. All of the colleagues were great and gave me an insight into their work – there is a lot more to it than I expected.

“They lent me some overalls and hi-vis, and every day when I got home my mum would get excited and say ‘you look like a proper worker now’!

“Before my placement I planned to become a welder, but now I’ve got my heart set on a career with Northern Gas Networks.”

Nyle’s mum Alana said: “He’s not stopped talking about the work experience, he was so excited to go each day. We’re so grateful to Northern Gas Networks and Sunderland College for giving him the chance.

“He said all of the colleagues were great with him, lent him everything he needed and treated him as one of the team for the week.”

Debra Bowman, STEM Faculty Director at Sunderland College, said: “We find it difficult to find work experience placements for young people in engineering, so I don’t think employers always understand how much we appreciate one of our students being given a placement. It can be really daunting for a young person to go into the world of work, so work experience is so important.

“Nyle had the best time on his placement. He couldn’t believe he had got the opportunity.”

Nathan Winn is a Totex engineer at Northern Gas Networks and was one of the colleagues who showed Nyle the ropes during the week.

He said: “I’ve only got good things to say about him, he was really approachable, tried his best, is interested in everything and I could 100% see him becoming an engineer. He’s a really mature young man.”

Five years ago, during the year of his GCSEs, Nyle started getting pains in his foot.

He said: “I was walking home from school one day and my foot was a bit numb near my ankle, but I just thought it was a trapped nerve. Two days later I was limping badly and I had a golf ball-sized swelling on the side of my leg, and it was getting extremely painful.

“I still thought I’d twisted my ankle or something, so I went to my GP, and after an X-ray they spotted what they thought was a tumour in my bone. After some really painful biopsies they confirmed it was cancer. They got it early so it was localised to my leg and hadn’t spread.”

He was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare form of bone or soft tissue cancer, and had surgeries and chemotherapy. Despite this, he still managed to pass his GCSEs just a few months later.

He said: “My attitude is I was quite lucky it hadn’t spread. I had to get muscle from my back grafted on to my leg and a lot of the procedures were very, very painful, but I got through it. I remember the chemo meant I couldn’t really eat properly, so when it was finished, I celebrated with a massive bucket of KFC!”

A big thank you to Dispatch Team Leader Reece Bowman, Business Operations Lead James Knox and Operations Manager Michael Pratt who helped arrange the placement alongside Debra – and also a huge thank you to all the colleagues at the Burradon depot who made Nyle so welcome.

Northern Gas Networks will be launching applications for their 2025 Apprenticeship scheme in June, with successful candidates starting this September – details on how to apply coming soon!