An ambitious female student from Gornal Wood has won the inaugural Student of the Year award devised and sponsored by Bromsgrove construction group Weaver.
Ruth Ashlee, aged 23, has been studying for a Higher National Diploma in Construction and the Built Environment at Stourbridge College ATC and is determined to go on to gain a BSc and become a quantity surveyor.
The award was set up by Weaver, a company employing more than 140 people and with an annual turnover of £35 million.
Weaver has won a number of awards in the construction industry for the quality of its work, recently receiving the title of National Contractor of the year from Pegasus Retirement Homes as well as coming runner up in the Employer of the Year Modern Apprenticeships Awards.
The winner of the award - Ruth Ashlee - left Wolverley High School in Kidderminster with six GCSEs and with no immediate career plan.
After spotting and securing a job with Dudley Council as a trainee quantity surveyor, she began studying one day a week at Stourbridge College for the AVCE in Construction and the Built Environment.
The ambitious Miss Ashlee then moved on to work with several construction companies including her current employer Connaught PLC, embarking on a HND course, which she has now successfully completed.
At Stourbridge College, she was noted for her high level of effort and application throughout her studies.
Steve Perkins, programme coordinator for the Built Environment at Stourbridge College ATC, said: "Ruth is a thoroughly deserving recipient of the Weaver Student of the Year award because of her professional attitude and outstanding commitment to the course work."
