Young people in Glasgow have benefitted from an insight into the construction industry, as regeneration specialist Urban Union funded a skills day in collaboration with New Gorbals Housing Association
Urban Union is currently delivering the Laurieston Living development in the Gorbals and is committed to supporting young people into careers in the construction industry.
Pupils from various schools attended, in addition to young people put forward by Jobs and Business Glasgow, The Prince’s Trust and Working Rite, a youth employment charity.
Held at First Steps Future Training in Bridgeton, the event saw 54 young people take part in various activities, including bricklaying, painting and decorating, monoblocking and joinery.
They then met a number of Urban Union’s sub-contractors as part of the effort to find apprenticeships or work placements.
Neil McKay, managing director of Urban Union, said: “Urban Union is fully committed to supporting young people into employment, particularly those who live in the areas we operate in.
“We wanted to hold a special event where people could come along and get some hands-on experience and also meet some potential employers.
“Having so many young people attend was fantastic and hopefully several of them will now have a clearer idea of career options in the future and perhaps even have secured an opportunity with one of the businesses who attended.”
Urban Union currently supports a number of apprentices across its three sites – Laurieston Living in Glasgow, Pennywell Living in Edinburgh and Muirton Living in Perth.
Jodie McCann, a teacher at Holyrood Secondary School, added: “A huge thank you to Urban Union for providing such an amazing event for our students.
“Events like this are rare and give students interested in trade careers a unique opportunity to try trade skills in an industry setting.
“Having partners in industry is crucial for developing our young workforce and we look forward to working with Urban Union on future events.”
Urban Union is a unique partnership formed by McTaggart Construction and Robertson Group Holdings to specifically deliver large-scale regeneration projects.
Both partners have a track record in delivering mixed tenure projects and working to deliver ‘community benefits in procurement’ in Glasgow, Edinburgh and further afield.
The collaboration supports the priority given to targeted recruitment, training and supply chain opportunities.
Both Urban Union partners have extensive regeneration experience.
