Take a look at the activities we held as part of National Apprenticeship Week, demonstrating the impact that collaboration between NHG teams, contractors, schools and residents can have.
National Apprenticeship Week is an annual celebration bringing together businesses and apprentices across the UK to highlight the positive impact of apprenticeship training. Held in February, it showcases the skills and benefits apprenticeships provide to individuals, employers, and the economy.
It’s a great opportunity for us to show the communities we work in that our work goes beyond housing. Together with resident involvement and regeneration teams we held a careers fair at Bolney meadow and a workshop to the kids at Walworth academy near the Aylesbury Estate.
Apprenticeship and careers fair at Bolney Meadows
On Tuesday 10 February, we welcomed Mulalley, Pilon, Sure Serve, Equans, Wates, Vital Energi, and the National Careers Service to our Apprenticeship & Careers Fair at Bolney Meadows Community Centre in Lambeth. Each organisation offered practical career advice, apprenticeship insights and personal conversations with residents exploring their next steps.
A theme that emerged throughout the day was the misconception that careers in construction are limited to onsite or trade‑based roles. One resident initially hesitated to engage for this reason, but after conversations with several suppliers, they were struck by how broad and diverse the sector truly is spanning roles in design, sustainability, customer service, HR, finance, IT, surveying, project management and community engagement.
Another resident described their conversation with Equans about routes into architecture as the highlight of their day.
A standout outcome was Wates offering a one‑week work placement to a resident giving them a real first step into the industry.
Design, engineering and construction workshops at Walworth Academy, Aylesbury Estate
Alongside the careers fair, NHG partnered with Class of Your Own to deliver two hands‑on workshops at Walworth Academy on the Aylesbury estate in Southwark. The workshops were designed to highlight the different kinds of careers and opportunities that are available within the construction sector and encourage young people to consider construction apprenticeships upon leaving school.
The two workshops, delivered on the 10th and 11th of February, focused on designing a community asset for year 8 students, and designing a residential modular unit for year 9 students. The young people were guided through the tasks in a workbook that made them take into consideration many factors while designing a community asset or a residential building. They thought about things like, location, end user needs, internal & and external material, internal space use as well as external area plan, road safety and transportation links.
This was an amazing 2 days of workshops made possible by the amazing teachers and staff at Walworth Academy and our ever so brilliant and enthusiastic industry volunteers from within our contractors and supply chain. A huge thank you to volunteers from Hill Group UK, SES Engineering Services, Neilcott Construction Limited, Waterslade ltd, Price & Myers and of course our own internal volunteers from Notting Hill Genesis.
Over the two days, the volunteers supported 120 year 9 students and 175 year 8 students to complete a workbook and come up with a group presentation to perform to the rest of the year. At the end of each day, the volunteers chose an overall winner who were presented with industry specific prizes.
Thank you
A huge thank you to all the volunteers and partners who made this week possible. Together, we’re helping residents and young people see the built environment sector as diverse, accessible and full of opportunity.
