New skills, new opportunities
Training at our Centre for Excellence is drawing to a close for 2018.
It’s been an amazing year with so much to celebrate; lots of hard-work and determination from our young trainees as they learn practical skills to enable them to earn a living and provide for their families.
In 2018 we trained over 160 young people through the Centre for Excellence and at our community projects, giving them new skills and new opportunities. Half our bricklaying trainees have taken their trades test with a fantastic pass rate of 93%, with the others due to find out their results in the New Year.
Building links with the construction sector
A major success story in 2018 is the increasing number of local construction companies, now 25, who are willing to offer our young trainees work placement opportunities. Their involvement and feedback helps us to help improve the content and delivery of our training. These partnerships are essential to the long-term success of our programme.
Looking ahead
In 2019 will aim to train over 200 men and women. As well as our courses on bricklaying, rough carpentry and painting, we will be piloting a new course on plastering and rendering. This is a skill that local employers tell us is in high demand.
Next year will see the design of a new course specifically targeted at women. The aim is to overcome some of the barriers that women currently face when trying to gain employment in the construction sector. We will also look to test new short courses that we can charge for.
Another ambition for 2019, is to increase our capacity to link new graduates with employers for up to 12 months after completing their training. We will also pilot a drop-in advice clinic for our graduates who need advice and information.