At Elkins Construction, we’re continuing to provide social value in the communities where our projects are based, working with local organisations, charities, and schools to provide donations and offer work experience and apprenticeships. Here’s what we’ve been up to since our last update.
Local donations
At the end of April, we made a £1,000 donation towards the Mayor of Southwark’s Charity Ball. This year the event was in aid of three vital Southwark charities – St Giles Trust, SALEM Academy of Music and London Community Kitchen.
As our External Works programme at Kingswood Estate draws to a close, we recently held a raffle to thank the residents for their understanding and cooperation throughout the project, with three prizes for shopping vouchers worth £150, £75 and £50.
We continue to support the Extra Time Hub in Greenwich by making quarterly donations to help with the cost of running the project and regularly volunteering. The project has over one hundred over 55s attend each week to take part in a large range of activities to enhance their physical and mental health.
We are pleased to announce our support of Kingswood Arts’ new project to convert their basement area into a youth club and state-of-the-art recording studio. Elkins contributed £6,000 in June to help get the project to its finishing stages. It is expected to be completed in August 2024. The recording studio will give local young people the chance to take part in constructive music sessions to build skills, support mental health and wellbeing and help divert them from gangs, crime and antisocial behaviour.
The biggest project we’ve been involved with so far this year was the construction of Dulwich Wood Primary School’s outdoor science area. Elkins donated £8,000 towards the project and we were able to raise a further £9,195 from our generous contractors to cover the cost of the science tables. The outdoor science area was officially opened on 17th May, with members of the Elkins team in attendance alongside Local MP, Helen Hayes and Councillor Andrew Simmons. Read the full story here.
Community engagement
We’ve been offering students at Rockcliffe Manor Primary School an insight into our Gilbourne Road new build project through site visits organised by Blakeney Leigh during the construction process. Last year we welcomed the students to see the modules landing, and in May we welcomed them back to see the finished development.
Following our involvement last year, we are pleased to once again support Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB)‘s pre-apprenticeship summer bootcamp. The six-week course helps local people get into the construction industry by providing work opportunities and training. As part of our involvement, we recently attended a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style presentation, which was given by the candidates to a panel of construction industry professionals.
In our last update, we announced we had partnered with Youth Build to support its YB100 programme for 18-to-25-year-olds within Lewisham, as part of delivering social value under our new contract with Phoenix Community Housing. At the beginning of April, our Social Value Manager, Ayesha, attended the World of Work in Construction panel, where she was invited to speak about routes into the industry and her personal experience, as well as answer candidates’ questions.
In June we have been involved in a number of YB100 events, including one for CV writing tips and mock interviews, and another session with live interviews to discuss available opportunities with the candidates. We also look forward to attending the graduation ceremony to celebrate the end of the programme and students’ achievements on 28th June.
Additionally, our work with Construction Youth Trust continues. Ayesha and our HR Manager, Sarah, recently attended two mock interview sessions at Ark Walworth Academy for sixth form and Key Stage 4 students. This is part of our commitment to providing social value under our roofing contract for Southwark Council.
Work experience and apprenticeships
In May, we were pleased to offer Dylan Godfrey a multi-trade apprenticeship in our Reactive Repairs and Maintenance department. Dylan will be starting a Level 2 Property Maintenance course in September and we wish him the best of luck in his new role.
At the end of May, we also welcomed Ark Walworth Academy student, Nurul, for two days of work experience in our quantity surveying department, he worked alongside Louie, who is currently on a year-long placement with us as part of his Quantity Surveying degree. Nurul said: “It was a pleasure working alongside the team as they treated me like family and kept me well informed”. We’re pleased Nurul enjoyed his placement, and we look forward to inviting a second Ark Walworth Student into our HR and H&S department in early July.
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