Building Futures Together

HELPING PUPILS FORGE CAREERS IN

CONSTRUCTION

INTRODUCING BUIDLING FUTURES TOGETHER

We work with schools across Yorkshire to increase life skills and opportunities for young people by letting them experience the construction industry first-hand.

We have a passion, desire and ambition to help pupils who are not engaged in the school curriculum.

Some students will attain the relevant academic grades but have a desire to work within the trades, some may not be academically minded and need encouragement while others need a positive alternative to crime and / or anti-social behaviour. Having vocational hands-on learning can be as important to a young person’s career as a school education.

While this is a challenge – latest Office for National Statistics figures (November 2022) show 724,000 people aged 16 to 24 are classed as NEET – we are reducing these numbers by helping youngsters into sustainable careers by working with them while they are still at school.

This gives them something to work towards, an incentive to try their best in education and improves relationships with teachers –many engaging for the very first time after attending sessions with us.

Our purpose-built training academy is in Pudsey at the headquarters of £47m mechanical and electrical specialist G&H Group, which co-founded Building Futures Together after recognising the importance of helping youngsters at an early stage.

Our philosophy is to engage, encourage and nurture – values we know are central to all schools that we work in partnership with.

John Thornton Director

SCHOOLS

Not all pupils are academically minded. Some can be hard to engage with, others might be confused about their options so a vocational alternative can offer a vital path to many, providing clarity and a route to further training and employment.

We work closely with secondary schools in Yorkshire to support them in their bid to engage with these pupils.

We do this by providing alternative high-quality career guidance and offer opportunities for pupils in the construction industry at a critical school age.

Hands-on learning experiences at our in-house academy introduces pupils to the endless opportunities within construction while at the same time providing practical initiatives that include elements of maths, English and other important subjects.

By giving pupils a taste, we work with them and their school to ensure they work hard in their remaining academic years so they can access construction related apprenticeship and jobs.

Our belief is that everyone should have the chance to understand what a career is and learn the steps and skills required to create one.

As well as helping pupils forge careers we increase and improve their:

>Self-esteem

>Ambitions

>Attendance

>Literacy and maths

>Self-awareness

>Empathy

>Creative thinking

>Decision making

>Problem solving

>Communication

COURSES

We offer four courses for schools looking to partner with us:

1. Taster sessions so schools and pupils can experience elements of the course

2. Sessions in and out of term time for groups of 6-8 pupils in six week blocks

3. Long-term courses with programmes running throughout the academic year

4. Staff visit schools to run careers days, provide careers guidance, teach interview skills and help CV writing

These courses also help schools work towards the Gatsby Benchmarks for Good Career Guidance

1. A stable careers programme

2. Learning from career and labour market Information

3. Addressing the needs of each pupil

4. Linking curriculum learning to careers

5. Encounters with employers and employees

6. Experiences of workplaces

7. Encounters with further and higher education

8. Personal guidance

PUPILS GET HANDS ON

Deciding which GCSE subjects to choose can be very hard and sometimes scary.

Not every pupil will be academic or know what they want to do when they leave school.

It can be confusing and hard to make decisions in Year 9.

This is why Building Futures Together gives pupils chance to experience the construction industry first-hand.

Our training centre is split into different bays so youngsters can try basic mechanical, electrical and air conditioning works as well as bricklaying, joinery and plastering.

Construction offers a wide range of careers on building sites and in offices and opportunities are endless with lots of success stories of people rising through the ranks from being apprentices to running companies.

OUR PEOPLE

Darren started his career in construction as a 16-year-old land surveyor in 1986 on the Youth Training Scheme.

Since then he’s held a variety of positions including land surveyor, site manager, contracts manager, construction director, pre-construction director and finally group strategy director and shareholder of the £50m HB Projects company.

In recent years Darren has focused his attention on social and community projects working as an advisor to Yorkshire Prison Group by tackling re-offending with the introduction of vocational construction skills academies.

He is a Construction Ambassador for the Construction Industry Training Board, on the steering group of West Yorkshire Colleges Consortium as well as being a member of the organising committee of Wakefield College’s ‘Give Construction a Try’ event.

Having risen through the ranks at British Railways over 11 years after joining in a Youth Training Scheme post, John followed his passion for helping others in the community by becoming a police officer in 2003.

He is motivated to use his life and work experiences to help others, especially young people.

While working in neighbourhood policing, he created an intervention programme with Bradford Bulls to engage young people through sport.

During his time as an offender manager at HMP Leeds he created a partnership with Leeds Rhinos called ‘Onside’ to once again successfully use sport as a catalyst for positive change.

Darren Hamer

John Thornton

Graham Kelly

After leaving school at 16, Graham joined construction group Morfitts on a Youth Training Scheme before going on to create G&H Group in 1998.

Graham remains the managing director having built the business into a £47m mechanical and electrical company.

He is also the inventor of Encore the world’s most eco-friendly toilet cistern and Graham firmly believes the most important characteristics for success are determination, the right attitude and hard work.

He created the G&H Apprentice Training Academy giving youngsters the chance to learn building services’ skills and forge careers in construction.

He is a big supporter of local grassroots schools, sports, community groups and charities with over £15,000 raised last year by G&H Group.

TESTIMONIALS

“The sessions were extremely powerful to witness. The demeanour of our currently very disengaged students visibly changed during a relatively short 90 minute session allowing me to have my first two-way, positive interaction with some pupils.”

Adam Dale, Principal, Crawshaw Academy

“Our pupils have not maintained placements at local schools due to social, emotional or behavioural difficulties but their patience and perseverance at BFT was a pleasure to see. The positive experience is made even better by fantastic instructors.”

Rich Morris, Assistant Headteacher, Park Aspire PRU

“Feedback from our pupils has been extremely positive and they have requested further visits to BFT. Following sessions, they are now more engaged in lessons and have started to discuss their own futures to help their career choices.”

Robert Fairburn, Head of Centre, Oastlers School

“Building Futures Together has had an extremely positive effect on our learners. For one student, his attendance with us was very poor due to a lack of motivation in attending lessons without any additional practical learning.

“After being at BFT the student started attending our provision almost immediately and this is all down to his increased confidence and self-belief that has been gained from working with the staff at BFT. His attendance since January has increased to over 90% while his attitude to learn more GCSE English and maths has dramatically changed for the better. Along with this, his ability to selfmanage his emotions has improved. Again, this is due to the effect that his time with BFT has had on his attitude to learning - this would not have been possible otherwise.

“Another student who attends BFT has shown a more positive attitude to staff while with us. There has been an increased belief in his career choices as well as him wanting to show our staff the tasks he has completed and the pride in his work. BFT staff have provided support and set out an opportunity to help his English and maths work, if required. This has also been of benefit to the student’s wellbeing and his family have noticed a big difference in his attitude to learning.

Andrew McCann, Leeds City College

Registered address: Firlands Mill, South Parade, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, LS28 8AD

Community Interest Company number: 12418865