Graham has partnered with Street League to set up a construction skills academy, giving young people employability support alongside construction sector specific insights
Street League is a ‘sport for employment’ charity which targets sports to engage with young people, as well as teach them the key life and work skills they need to move into sustainable employment.
This partnership provides young people who access Street League’s services with information about careers in the construction industry and they will receive sector specific advice and help with CVs and interview skills.
Each participant interested in a career in construction is given assistance by Street League to receive a Construction Skills Certification Scheme card upon completion, which is a national benchmark of the skills required to work on a construction site.
Work placements with Graham
The construction skills academy has already seen 16 young people complete a two-week work placement on the development of Meadowbank Sports Centre, which Graham is delivering on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council. Future work placements are planned for other Graham projects.
Graham will also be fundraising for Street League throughout the year as well as linking its supply chain partners with the organisation’s modern apprenticeship offer, enabling young people working for those partners to gain an SVQ in business administration.
Social impact manager, Debbie Rutherford, Graham said: “Work placements and the promotion of skills has always been an extremely important part of Graham’s overall vision for Scotland, driving the creation of this partnership with Street League.
“We’ve developed a collaborative model which will give young people access to Street’s League’s comprehensive employability training as well as specific hands-on construction experience at the Meadowbank Sports Centre site.”
Youth unemployment
Street League’s vision is to end youth unemployment in the UK. They tackle poverty, using sport to help those most in need to get into sustainable education, training and job opportunities. They also have a national team, working in 36 local communities across Scotland and England. In 2020 they plan to support over 1,600 young people into jobs, education or training.
Dougie Stevenson, Street League’s managing director Scotland, said: “Partnerships that offer opportunities for young people to gain work experience, and the skills needed to succeed in a job, are invaluable.
“We are delighted to be working with Graham to unlock these opportunities and the potential for our modern apprenticeships to be offered to their supply chain partners. With financial support as well, through the generosity of their staff’s fundraising efforts, we are looking forward to seeing how this partnership can develop and grow nationally.”
