When City West Housing Trust formed in October 2008, we were determined to use our considerable spending power to get local people into construction jobs. Employment would be a key focus of our work, as would developing women into construction.
Along with our contractors, we agreed to create one new construction-related job, either within City West Works or its subsidiaries, for every £1m invested in improving our 14,600 homes.
We knew there would be strong interest from men for the trainee positions, but we also wanted to target women and break down the persistent gender barriers in the construction industry, to create a truly sustainable community and thriving local economy.
Equality and diversity is important to City West and, as well as helping us attract a wider range of talent, the scheme also offers a new service to customers, as many residents feel more comfortable with tradeswomen in their homes.
In the summer of 2009 an experienced team was drawn together to bring this vision to life. In preparation the old works depot underwent a £1m transformation and City West Works, our maintenance operation which includes a training and skills centre, was born.
The success of the scheme is clear: a quarter of trainees are female, more than double the national average of 11%.
Despite this great start, we want to improve this figure further and to help attract more women to the courses. We have held a series of women only recruitment days, advertised through Jobcentre Plus, Working Links and throughout our community.
To ensure the right people are accessing the courses, the women's only days see applicants attending the City West Works training centre where they listen to presentations from staff explaining what the maintenance arm does, what it can offer and what it expects of trainees. Once the presentation has finished, the women are interviewed by City West Works staff, tenants and contractors and are assessed ahead of the formal selection processes.
An average of 50 women have applied for the trainee roles so far – an increase of more than 650%, proving beyond any doubt that women do want to work in this field.
In total 108 men and women have been trained; all have qualified to NVQ level 2 and all have gone on to find work. Of the group, 71% were previously unemployed.
By 2013, City West Works will have created an estimated 250 new jobs and more than 85 will be taken by women. As well as traditional trade jobs – plumbing, bricklaying and wiring – City West Works also offers training in related fields such as quantity surveying.
The scheme is returning exact results we wanted. It is removing barriers that have prevented women from taking a more active role in construction. The atmosphere is welcoming, women are treated as equals, and they are given the training and tools to be successful in their chosen careers.
City West Works is now sustainable and self-fulfilling. Women who have graduated act as role models encouraging others to get involved by sharing their experiences and success.
Projects such as these have give women a renewed sense of self-worth, career aspirations and positivity about what the future holds, opening new doors to careers in a sector they may not have considered previously.
Colette McKune is director of asset management at City West Housing Trust
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