At Elkins, we are committed to providing work experience, apprenticeships and employment opportunities to local people, particularly those from under-represented backgrounds. In September 2022 we teamed up with Construction Youth Trust, a charity helping young people overcome the barriers to a career in the construction industry. As we come to the end of the academic year, we take a look back at the work we’ve been doing together.
Over the last year, we’ve worked with various schools and colleges local to our projects, to promote careers in construction to their students. In November 2022, our Social Value Manager, Ayesha, and HR Manager, Sarah, delivered a class at Norwood Secondary School, for year 11s on interview skills, and also gave insights into their experience working in the industry.
The school is close to our ongoing major works refurbishment project at Kingswood Estate for Southwark Council. We have since returned twice more to Norwood – once to deliver a ‘Careers’ Options’ class to students and, most recently, to conduct mock interviews with the students.
This year, we have facilitated site visits to Kingswood Estate for young people aged 17-24 interested in a career in the construction industry. The candidates were given tours by our Site Managers, Steve Ward and Mark Hobbs, and then took part in a discussion about Elkins’ apprenticeship, trainee and work experience opportunities.
Over the last few months, it’s been great to see even more of our staff, across different areas of the business, volunteer their time to deliver a series of talks and workshops in local schools: our HSEQ Manager, Ion, gave a talk about his career path to students at Harris Academy Bermondsey; Contracts Manager, Dilwar, conducted mock interviews with students at Walworth Academy; and Contracts Manager, Paul, provided CV writing tips and advice at Bacon’s College.
The partnership has proved hugely beneficial on both sides and we look forward to continuing our work, with more events lined up for later in the year.
CYT said: “Our partnership with Elkins Construction over the past year has been instrumental to the success of the programmes we operate in our Lambeth hub. We have worked collaboratively to engage, encourage, and guide a selected cohort of students to further develop their employability skills and overall understanding of the opportunities available in the construction and built environment sector. Social Value Manager, Ayesha Wright, has been a wonderful source of support in helping orchestrate the various volunteering opportunities we’ve hosted in our Lambeth schools. We’d like to extend a massive thank you to Elkins Construction for their support and look forward to continuing our work together.”
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