The Humber Construction Hub held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the innovative new learning hub in Bransholme, Hull.
The Hub has been created through a collaboration between EN:Able Futures and the Hull City-Wide Partnership, with funding from the Construction Skills Fund (CSF), funded by the Department for Education and run by CITB.
The honour of cutting the ribbon was passed to rising British Weightlifting athlete and Britain’s youngest female international weightlifting coach Jenny Tong, who drew on her experiences of turning her life around from a young offender to disciplined athlete.
Jenny said: “I’m honoured to be opening the Humber Construction Hub. I wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t been given the opportunity to try new things. The Hub is all about providing opportunities for people to try new things, learn new skills and make positive choices towards starting a career in an industry that touches everyone’s lives, from housing to hospitals, roads to railways.”
Working with local training providers, the Hub will offer on-site construction skills training in a realistic building environment and use its links with businesses in the sector to give learners additional work experience on real building projects.
Learners will be supported to find jobs and obtain the required safety certifications needed to work on building sites, such as CSCS cards, making sure they are fully prepared for the roles they will be applying for.
Launched in October 2018, the CSF is an early pilot of the National Retraining Scheme announced in the Industrial Strategy and 2018 Budget. The project is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and delivered by CITB with the aim of training more than 13,000 people to be ready for employment in the construction industry by March 2020. Humber Construction Hub is the 26th to be set up across the country, many of them in areas of high unemployment.
Lee Parkinson, Chief Executive of Efficiency North, said: “EN:Able Futures’ position in this important initiative continues the company’s expansion into the provision of high quality training and apprenticeships through a site based construction learning hub. Our relationships with the construction supply chain will complement the delivery model and our experience in managing the region’s shared apprenticeship scheme will assure the quality of the training provided. We are very much looking forward to welcoming new learners to the learning hub in Hull and we hope that it will be the first of others that we develop in the region and beyond.”
Steve Radley, Policy Director of CITB, added: “The CSF project and its unique training model offers significant opportunities for local people who may otherwise have been unable to join the construction industry.
“To see the Humber Hub launch successfully is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone involved. The opening ceremony is just the first step, and it’s an exciting time for all the candidates who will be given the crucial onsite experience they need to start a career in this exciting industry.”
PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT:
Sam Ribbitt – Apprentice, Dennis Waller – Director at Excel Modular (main contractor), Dan Roche Director at M.B.Roche & Sons, Nigel Hollington – Humber Construction Hub Manager, Lee Parkinson – Chief Executive at Efficiency North, Jenny Tong, Andrea Jones – CITB Monitoring Officer, Kailem Atkinson – Apprentice and Conner Calvert – Apprentice.