Partner Article

Constructing a better future by tackling NEETs

Keepmoat Homes, which is the UK’s number one partnership home builder, won the national award for its innovative work helping young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) in the North West.

The initiative saw the developer partner with Connexions and Inspiring Communities Together in 2017 to run a six-week programme which resulted in all the participants moving on to employment, training or further education.

Following the initial success, Keepmoat ran the campaign again during the summer of 2018 with the aim of delivering a Level one Horticulture course working in partnership once again with Inspiring Communities Together. Eight Salford young NEETS and one local resident were recruited to be part of the course, which not only developed the group’s horticulture and construction skills but also carried out a major work in and around Salford Sports Village.

Following the programme all eight attendees progressed on to further training. Two of the contingent moved on to “Kickstart”, an innovative pre-employment introduction to construction scheme developed by Keepmoat Homes.

The “Kickstart” programme covered Level 1 Health, Safety and Environmental awareness training and the Construction Skills Certification Scheme test and card, site visits, college visit, understanding site manager expectations, level one employability qualification and a voluntary project.

Following the end of the programme on 12 October and over three quarters (77%) of attendees have secured job interviews, work trials or further training opportunities.

Julie Baker, Social and Economic Impact Manager for the North West at Keepmoat Homes, said:

“At Keepmoat Homes we believe it’s important to support the communities in which we work. Therefore it’s fantastic to see our work in Salford not only shortlisted but win this national award, however most importantly is the impact that the scheme had on those young people involved and on the wider community. Not only did it help to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training but importantly it also helped inspire some of the young people involved to look ahead to the opportunities in their futures.”

Deputy City Mayor Councillor John Merry congratulated Keepmoat on winning such a prestigious award.

“The true winners in this are the young people and local resident who took part in the scheme. It has helped them build self-confidence, develop new skills and see their future in a much brighter light, as well as putting something back into their community. Every time they pass Salford Sports Village they can say, with pride, I worked on that.

“It’s so important that young people benefit from the current massive building boom and investment in Salford and the council will continue to work with partners to get the most social value for people as possible.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ben Ormsby .