Category: News

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, officially opened the new Construction Skills Village in Doncaster at a launch event on Thursday 23 March. The new Skills Village is part of the National College for High Speed Rail in Doncaster which is currently being built by Willmott Dixon.

The launch event began with presentations by Anthony Dillon – Managing Director of Willmott Dixon Construction – Northern Region, Roger Morton – Construction Manager at Willmott Dixon Construction, Graham Ratcliffe – Managing Director at Northern Regeneration and Chris Webb – Principal at Barnsley College.

The partners explained in further detail why the Skills Village was created and how it will help students to gain a construction qualification together with real life practical experience by working at the Skills Village as well as on the National College for High Speed Rail.  The aim of the Skills Village is to help close the skills gap within the construction industry by providing the people of Doncaster with the opportunity to gain construction related skills in order to make them ‘work ready’.

The Mayor of Doncaster officially opened the Skills Village in a ribbon cutting ceremony and guests had the opportunity to see students working on construction activities. The Mayor spoke to the students to find out how the Skills Village is helping to equip them with the necessary skills required for a successful career within the construction industry. This was then followed by a tour of National College for High Speed Rail, due to open in September 2017.

The Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones, said: “The Doncaster Skills Village is a great project that is giving young people a practical introduction to construction in an exciting environment. What better place to inspire people than at the site of the new National College for High Speed Rail. It’s a fantastic initiative and I’d like to thank everyone involved in this partnership including Willmott Dixon, Northern Regeneration and Barnsley College.”

Anthony Dillon, Managing Director of Willmott Dixon Construction – Northern Region, said:  “This is a fantastic initiative that we are proud to be part of. The project is dedicated to attracting more people into the construction industry and is a great opportunity which will have a positive impact on the local community.”

Graham Ratcliffe, Managing Director at Northern Regeneration, said: “Thank you to The Mayor of Doncaster for officially opening the Skills Village. The partnership is now looking forward to working with local construction enthusiasts to develop their skills and knowledge by learning on a real-life site environment.”

Barnsley College Principal Christopher Webb added: “The Skills Village is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain the practical industry skills required for a successful career within construction. We are looking forward to working with our partners to help provide the next generation of skilled construction workers in Doncaster.”

Ibtsock Brick have donated 12,000 bricks to the Construction Skills Village.

This large donation will support students in Barnsley, Doncaster and Scarborough Skills Village to develop their brickwork skills on a safe site learning environment.

The provision of tools and materials is one of the Skills Village biggest costs and as a Community Interest Company any support is a massive help.

Graham Ratlciffe, Managing Director of Northern Regeneration said ‘What a fantastic donation from Ibstock. The materials will really support the development of our students and hopefully help them move once step closer to employment.’

Thank you Ibstock!

If you think your organisation can support the Skills Village, please get in touch.

The Construction Skills Village in Doncaster and Barnsley hosted four apprentice plumbers from Dijon in Eastern France for two days in March.

The visits were part of the Erasmus + programme; arranged through B&E Together who work in partnership with European training providers to provide groups of VET students with a great opportunity to take part in a work experience exchange programme. The students live with our local families for 3 weeks and work alongside professionals in industries across multiple sectors.

During their time with the Skills Village:

Day 1: Barnsley Skills Village with Henry Boot
• Full Health and Safety Site Induction
• Undertook a bricklaying activity with fellow Skills Village students
• Attended a presentation by Henry Boot on the Better Barnsley development

Day 2: Doncaster Skills Village with Willmott Dixon
• Full Health and Safety Site Induction
• Undertook a joinery activity with fellow Skills Village students
• Toured the HS2 Rail College development with Willmott Dixon

The tutor and students all agreed the visits were “très très bien” and thoroughly enjoyed their visits before going on to a valuable work experience programme for the duration of their visit.

Kevin Donnelly, Enterprise Consultant at B&E Together said “The visits were a fabulous experience for the young people visiting South Yorkshire and were shining examples of the excellent work in engineering, manufacturing  and construction taking part across our region. Our thanks go out to all the business and host families who support the programme year on year”

On Monday 20th March Scarborough Construction Skills Village held its second open day of 2017.

We welcomed over 30 construction enthusiasts onto the Skills Village to give them a taste of what the industry is really like. Over two sessions attendees had the chance to experience hands on activities including Bricklaying, Joinery, and Groundworks on a real site environment.

Despite the windy weather everyone enjoyed the day and we look forward to seeing some faces joining us soon!

Attendee said ‘it gives me an idea of what it will be like’ and another said ‘it was fun to learn something new’

If you would like to start your construction career, but don’t fancy a typical college environment get in touch as the Construction Skills Village may be for you!

Ten ambassadors from the Made in Barnsley’s Cutlers’ ‘Better Learners, Better Workers’ programme attended a workshop at the  Construction Skills Village on Tuesday 7th March 2017. The workshop was organised as part of Henry Boot Construction Better Barnsley development .

The Year 9 ambassadors were from Holy Trinity School in Barnsley and had the chance to learn all about the Construction Industry on a ‘real’ site environment.

The day comprised of:

• Full H&S site induction
• Issued full Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Hard hat, high vis, safety boots, goggles and gloves.
• Better Barnsley Project Talk
• Construction Careers Talk
• Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Bailey Bridge Activity
• Block Paving Activity

The ambassadors were lucky to have glorious weather whilst working outside on site and the group got stuck straight into every task; both Henry Boot and Skills Village staff were impressed by their maturity and teamwork skills.

Helen Hardcastle, Careers Adviser at Holy Trinity said “The Bailey Bridge project was a fantastic opportunity for the students to experience the skill set that is required in the construction industry. They also realised the importance of good communication, teamwork and hard work. It was a well presented, enjoyable, brilliant hands on activity –  the kids enjoyed it and so did I.  Thank you to the Henry Boot Construction and the Skills Village“

The Construction Skills Village has been established since 2015 and we are proud to be working with our industry partners GMI Construction PLC, Henry Boot Construction, Kebbell Developments, Keepmoat Group and Willmott Dixon.

The Construction Skills Village had a great National Apprenticeship Week 2017 from 6th – 10th March with our industry partners in Doncaster, Barnsley and Scarborough.

During the week:

• 2 new students enrolled
• Held 2 school workshops
• Attended 3 career fairs promoting the industry
• Arranged 3 contractor site visit
• Arranged 3 work experience placements – equating to 234 hours
• The First cohort of Adult Learners completed L1 H&S and Maths Functional Skills

We look forward to National Apprenticeship Week 2018 and seeing what the Construction Skills Village can achieve.

Small team, big impact – Get in touch if you want to work with us!

Scarborough Construction Skills Village had a fantastic open day on Tuesday 7th February 2017 with over 60 people attending the day.

Despite the poor weather spirits were high with attendees getting the chance to:

Experience hands on taster sessions in Bricklaying, Joinery and Groundworks

Speak to CITB and Go Construct for construction career guidance

Speak to North Yorkshire County Council about the Adult Learning Programme currently running at the Skills Village

Experience a real site safety induction for Kebbell Homes

Tour of the Skills Village and discuss its current and future course provision

Overall, the day was a huge success with attendees saying it gave them a ‘good insight into construction’ and it ‘helped me realise what I want to do’.

Thank you to everyone who came and all our partners who got involved.