The Worshipful Company of Constructors is proud to support the Building Heroes Education Foundation, which is dedicated to service leavers and veterans, providing them with employment support into a new career in the construction industry by equipping them with a broad range of trade skills and connecting them with a network of employers.
Building Heroes, with their connections with the armed forces, recruit the graduates, organise the courses and provide the welfare and workwear costs. If needed they also provide an appropriate career path. The government funds the actual cost of each course, with the Building Heroes Foundation picking up all ancillary costs such as board and lodging and workwear. The Foundation then works in partnership with the Colleges offering building trade courses and organises the full time five-week Foundation and Property Maintenance courses which include:
Level 1 City & Guilds Diploma in Basic Construction- Level 1 Award in Health & Safety and welfare
- Brickwork, blockwork, rendering
- Plaster boarding and plastering
- Painting & Decorating, tiling
- Domestic Plumbing
- 1st & 2nd fix Carpentry & Joinery
- CSCS training and Examination and employment Card.
The Building Heroes Foundation was introduced to the Charitable Trust by a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Builders Merchants. Hopefully, with the support of the Construction Livery Group and other Livery Companies it may in the future be possible for the Livery to completely fund one or two of the centres and a wide range of Livery members could become actively involved.
From our point of view, and before making any grant to the Foundation the Charitable Trust conducted their initial compliance investigation, visiting Building Heroes on several occasions at their training centre at Aldershot. The Trust was extremely impressed with both the quality of training and the commitment of the graduates and last year donated £5,000 towards the running costs of the scheme. They have already made provision for a further £5,000 in this coming year.
One of the Charitable Trust trustees also attended a recent graduation ceremony at Aldershot and had the pleasure of presenting the diplomas to the graduates with the Mayor of Aldershot, a Senior Army Recruitment Officer and trustees of the Building Heroes Foundation in attendance.
Building Heroes operates out of twelve colleges at present with the hope of increasing to 15 by 2021 enabling them to train over 1,000 veterans a year. As part of their plan for steady expansion Building Heroes are opening a new series of courses at South Thames College at the end of September and have invited representatives of the Worshipful Company of Constructors to attend their first graduation ceremony.
The Building Heroes Foundation has a website (www.buildingheroes.org.uk) on which the Worshipful Company of Constructors is proud to feature as a supporter. More details of the scheme can be found here.