With superb weather throughout the weekend, hundreds of families and young people found their way to Newham Council's Building Futures tent where the Construction Youth Trust treated visitors to taster sessions in carpentry, painting, tiling, brickwork and plumbing. These activities were commissioned by The London Borough of Newham with funding from the Lloyds Bank Construction Skills Fund, part of Lloyds Banking Group's commitment to helping Britain, and London, prosper by improving employability.
Volunteers from Mulalley and Lakehouse supported the hands-on activities by engaging with children as young as five and young adults up to 30 years of age to saw and screw together a large insect mansion, to put their hands and minds to tiling, brickwork and painting, and to learn to change a tapwasher.
With Newham Council and the Trust providing children with personal protective equipment such as high-vis jackets, goggles and gloves everyone was appropriately dressed and got working with power tools and paint with great enthusiasm. The weekend was a true success for the council's ambition to entice young people to take up the vast construction employment and training opportunities in Newham with mothers and fathers discussing careers options in construction for their children; and young people showing interest in local courses and apprenticeships in the industry which were displayed on the specially designed careers board.
Newham Council Economic Regeneration Team Leader Margret Almond said "I was very pleased and have had lots of very positive comments from colleagues about your great activities which really helped make our "Building Futures" marquee so successful."
The volunteering contract manager and assistant site manager (centre) from Mulalley were delighted with the turn-out. And Mulalley Operations Director Bruce Benson said: "It was great to see so many young people visiting the Construction Youth Trust stall and having such fun. Hopefully we will have inspired some of them to pursue a career in the construction industry."
Group Community Development Manager Fusnara Begum from Lakehouse says: "What a great day! I had so much fun teaching the children and young adults how to change a tap washer and explain the different opportunities that exist within the construction industry. Everyone was eager to learn, and with such enthusiasm - Thank you Construction Youth Trust -the day was a true success."
Adapted from press release by Joseph Green