The campaign to find 100 apprentices in 100 days in Wiltshire has got off to a flying start.

The first 29 days of the campaign, launched by Wiltshire Enterprise and backed by the Gazette & Herald and Wiltshire Times, has seen 30 apprentices already signed up.

The range of new apprentices includes the traditional apprenticeship trades such as motor vehicle, hairdressing, business administration and childcare, with some more specialist appointments in areas such as design support, butchery and judo.

Over the past two weeks five nurseries have come on board with the campaign, offering experience and qualifications to young individuals who have proved they are keen and competent to work with young children.

The following nurseries are all progressing their young apprentices on to the Level 3 Diploma in Childcare which forms part of their apprenticeship: Apple Tree Nursery, Calne, Greenshoots Day Nursery, Trowbridge, Rocking Horse Day Nursery, Shaw, Near Melksham, Snapdragons Nursery, Melksham and The Willows Pre School in North Bradley.

Heather Wood, manager of Greenshoots Day Nursery in Trowbridge said: “The key for me is that I can see the right attributes in my new apprentice Stephanie. She is dedicated, loves working with children and all of the children really like her. She will make a great Childcare professional.”

Apprentice Stephanie Abbott said: “My family are all very happy for me as I have always wanted to work with children. Heather is a lovely boss and the nursery is a lovely environment for the children.”

One of the more specialised areas where six new apprentices have been recruited is through the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence programme.

These six new apprentices are all distance learners studying alongside their rigorous training programmes in judo.

Working closely with the University of Bath, this programme offers young sporting talent the opportunity to gain relevant qualifications alongside their training at the university. The programme is very demanding as apprentices have to juggle training, competitions (often abroad), and their college work.

Total inquiries for the campaign are almost up to 200, with plenty of work being done by the team of Training Coordinators that work for Wiltshire Enterprise to turn this opportunities into new apprenticeships.

Some of the new apprenticeships have taken the team outside of the county, such as the three new apprentices just starting at Poeten Industries based in Gloucester.

Poeten who specialise in protective coatings for a wide range of components in industries such as Aerospace, arranged their new apprenticeships through the specialist engineering section of Wiltshire Enterprise – Avon Vale Training. Avon Vale has been providing engineering and manufacturing apprenticeships throughout the South West for more than 40 years, serving an ever changing sector which is prominent in the region.

The next major milestone is the Apprenticeship Awards Ceremony on Thursday at Wiltshire College, Trowbridge, where Nick Hewer from the BBC series The Apprentice will be presenting more than 30 awards to last years apprentices and businesses.

The event will also announce the winner of Apprentice of the Year for 2010.