Brickwork students teamed up with a regional construction company to get real-life, on the job experience in Ryton-on-Dunsmore.
Deeley Construction were approached by Ryton Parish Council about a wall that was in need of repair in the village and three students from Rugby College stepped in to help with the community project.
Jeff Annor, Lewis Fordham and Poushigan Savarajan are all brickwork students at the college, which is part of WCG (Warwickshire College Group).
They were tasked with completing a ‘Brick on edge’ course on the walls – which provided an opportunity for the Rugby Colleges Brickwork Award students to get hands on experience of working on a real-world project.
The bricks were provided by the local community, with mortar supplied by Deeley Construction.
Deeley Construction is working in partnership with Waterloo Housing Group, Rugby Borough Council and Homes England, on a £3.9 million development of 21 affordable homes in the village.
The firm is a member of The 5% Club, which focuses on driving momentum into the recruitment of apprentices, graduates and sponsored students.
Edward Hudson, Business Development Manager at Deeley Construction, said: “We were approached by Councillor Steve Witter from Ryton Parish Council about undertaking some remedials to a brick wall near our housing development in the town.
“After agreeing to undertake the work, we recognised it would be a fantastic opportunity to give trainee bricklayers a chance to test out the skills they have developed at college in a real construction project.
“We engaged with WCG, who sent students from their Rugby College site to complete the works – and they did a fantastic job.
“At Deeley Construction we have a long-standing commitment to helping to develop the next generation of construction professionals and look forward to working more with students from the college in the future.”
Rugby College Construction Lecturer Will Dewes accompanied the students on the day and said it is important trainee construction workers gain experience like this during their course.
Will said: “We would like to thank Deeley Construction for coming to us with this great opportunity for our students to assist in a valued community project.
“The students who completed the work are Brickwork Award students, so to gain any hands-on experience like this is vital to their development, allowing them to put what they learn in college in to practice.
“As part of their study programme, our brickwork students are required to complete industry placements and small projects such as this are perfect preparation for those placements.”
WCG offers a range of Brickwork and Construction courses for all levels and ages of learners. For further information, go to www.wcg.ac.uk or call 0300 456 0049.
