On Friday 31st January, the final day of the first Wates supported Construct a Career course took place at the Brent Community Hub Centre in North West London. The celebration day was attended by The Mayor of Brent, senior members of staff from three respective Divisions of Wates, Clarion Housing Group, O’Neill & Brennan and Cidori, outlining the importance placed on the course and the collective shared vision of the positive impact it will have on local communities.
What really sets Construct a Career apart is having a collaboration of likeminded companies working together to provide talented unemployed individuals the tools, skills and confidence to start a career in construction. The course, which was described as "the best CSCS course they'd ever seen" by a St Mungo's Investment Manager, combines classroom training, as well as providing the cohort real site based experience and a flavour of what's to come. The 15 candidates on this particular course were taken to Wates' Wembley E02 project last Monday for a site visit, which would have undoubtedly whetted their appetite, as well as hearing about the inspiring career path journeys that Wates' senior management had been on, which was delivered to them on the final presentation day.
The 15 candidates, each from different backgrounds with their own unique stories to tell, have all successfully passed the CITB and One Day Health and Safety tests, have been registered by O'Neill & Brennan and once they have secured their CSCS card, will have opportunities to work on site. Their message is clear; they want to work, they have talent, they’re looking for experience and a foot in the construction door. Construct a Career is more than just placing people into work, it is about changing their lives and providing a route into a career.
We are proud to have been a part of this Construct a Career course with our trusted partners Wates and Cidori and will continue to collaborate on this version of Construct a Career which has delivered over 50,000 hours of entry level fully funded training to unemployed people across the country in the last 12 months. Version’s 2, 3 and 4 are in the pipeline to align with our customers’ requirements for funded training and employment.
If anyone would like to know more about how Construct a Career could work for your projects, (CSR targets, Section 106 obligations and local labour), we'd welcome a discussion on it. Contact Brendan Smith on 07464 546 982 or email b.smith@oandb.co.uk
