Construction Youth Trust’s Patron attends launch event as charity partners with City developers in five-year plan to boost social mobility for young Londoners
A prestigious event at Broadgate this week celebrated the partnership launch of Broadgate Future Talent – a collaborative five-year project to create new apprenticeship pathways for young Londoners.
As the project’s charity partner, Construction Youth Trust (CYT) invited its Patron, HRH The Duke of Gloucester, to the showcase of how a major London development can be a powerful engine of social mobility and workforce diversity. Along with property company, British Land and construction company, Sir Robert McAlpine, CYT also invited guests from the City, as well as partner employers and some of the project’s young beneficiaries.
The vision of Broadgate Future Talent is to introduce young people from the City’s neighbouring communities to all aspects of the built environment sector, to inspire them about working in an industry with a huge skills-need, and to support these budding young professionals to develop their employability and connect with life-changing career opportunities.
CYT has worked with British Land and Sir Robert McAlpine to forge partnerships with other Broadgate employers who have pledged financial and in-kind support.
Carol Lynch, Construction Youth Trust CEO, stated: “We expect Broadgate Future Talent to engage 500 young people from low socio-economic groups each year. Through the delivery of inspiring sessions in schools in Central London Forward boroughs, as well as immersive world-of-work experiences and support from our coaches and industry mentors, we will tackle hidden barriers and many young talents will achieve their career potential as a direct result of this project.”
Paul Hamer, Chief Executive at Sir Robert McAlpine, commented: “As an industry we need to attract a greater diversity of talent, and we are looking for under-represented young people who will spearhead developments in the future. The quality of students we are seeing come to us through this project is outstanding. We want to employ them; we want them to be part of the future of our business.”
David Lockyer, Head of Development at British Land, said: “At British Land we are committed to having a lasting positive impact in everything we do. This collaboration ensures we can do just that through our developments at Broadgate, supporting emerging talent into the industry and helping businesses attract and retain this talent.”
The event was held on the final day of a three-day Building Future Skills course – just one of a suite of programmes run by CYT to support young people into inspiring careers. The winning team from the 16–17-year-old participants were presented awards by The Duke, following which three of last year’s cohort, now higher-level degree apprentices, took part in a panel interview to discuss their career journey – and their future plans as young professionals.
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