Leading companies across the construction industry and national supply chain – including Heathrow, Lower Thames Crossing and Gallagher Group – will work together with TfL property arm Places for London to develop opportunities for people who have experience of the care system.
Places for London, TfL’s property company, and leading companies from across the construction and infrastructure industry have joined forces with Olympian Fatima Whitbread to bring career opportunities to those leaving or supporting people in the care system.
Nationally, around 40 per cent of young people aged 19-21 with care experience are unemployed or not in education, employment or training, according to ONS data – almost three times the rate among their peers (15 per cent). Care in Construction has been launched to help address this challenge by providing training, work placements, and direct routes into employment.
At an event last week the employer partners in the Care in Construction scheme and their wider working group came together with Olympian Fatima Whitbread, who spent 14 years in the care system herself and has become one of the UK’s most prominent advocates for young people with care experience to launch the scheme. The former Olympic champion has lent the expertise of her charity, FATIMA’S UK CAMPAIGN, to help connect the partners with care leavers and their families in order to support more people entering the construction industry.
Places for London, Heathrow, Gallagher Group and Lower Thames Crossing are working on some of the country’s biggest infrastructure or development sites across London and the south-east. Together, they are opening doors to an industry facing significant skills shortages, while creating life-changing opportunities for young people who are too often underrepresented in the workforce. The partners are working to ensure care leavers and those who support them can access training, work placements and career opportunities in the construction industry.
At a time when a third of the UK construction workforce is expected to retire within the next ten years and the average worker is aged 45, the programme demonstrates how the industry can tackle skills shortages and social inequality at the same time. Through Care in Construction, the partners are helping to build the next generation of skilled workers while ensuring young people with care experience can access training, support and long-term employment opportunities.
Laura Miller, Head of Skills & Growth at Places for London, said:
“No young person should be disadvantaged because they grew up in care. By bringing together some of the construction industry’s biggest employers, Care in Construction is creating real opportunities for young people to gain valuable skills, access rewarding careers and fulfil their potential. This programme is about confidence, ambition and showing young people with care experience that there is a place for them in an industry that helps shape the future of our towns, cities and communities.”
(Picture: Cineberg Ug/Dreamstime)
