Published: 21 July 2022
From: Business and economy
Hundreds of school and college students in Crawley have been involved in the new Town Hall and District Heat Network project.
Kier, Crawley Borough Council’s contractor for the development, has worked with Crawley College and schools in the town to ensure that students benefit from the huge project.
The council’s Employment and Skills Programme outlines how it will work with partners to enable local residents to access better job opportunities and address skills gaps in the local workforce.
Kier’s corporate social value initiatives included:
- Digital workshops – Kier’s Senior Design Manager and Lead Architect gave lectures on sustainability, offsite and modular solutions, digital technology tools in the construction industry to 87 young people studying carpentry, joinery, plumbing, property maintenance, media and IT
- Open Doors events at Crawley College – More than 60 students attended the site across four dates and enjoyed presentations explaining the demolition of parts of the existing Town Hall complex and construction of the new building. Site visits for college students are continuing as the project nears completion
- Graduate and industrial placements – Kier liaised with Crawley College to place students on their placement programme
- Volunteering at West Green Primary School – 28 pupils studying the life of plants were helped by Kier staff, who also supplied hard hats for use as hanging baskets
- STEM in the Park – Kier’s Site Team and Early Careers Team attended the Memorial Gardens event in May to demonstrate the breadth of STEM careers in a fun and inspirational environment, experience cutting edge activities and technology and change students’ perceptions about STEM
- Employ Crawley Apprenticeship Fair – Kier’s Site Team and Early Careers Team attended the event at Crawley Library to discuss apprenticeships and career options with local young people
I’m delighted that so many local young people have taken advantage of the opportunities provided during this major construction project in Crawley town centre. We’re committed to working with our partners to build on the skills of our residents and empower them to pursue long and successful careers
Cllr Atif Nawaz
Cabinet member for Planning and Economic Development
Crawley Borough Council
Making a positive impact and leaving lasting legacies in the communities we work in is at the heart of what we do. As a responsible business, we are committed to inspiring the next generation of talent in Crawley, fuelling their enthusiasm and showing what the construction industry has to offer. Many of our team went to the local schools we have worked with as part of our work on Crawley Town Hall and it’s incredibly important to us all that we give back to the next generation. Hopefully we will see quite a few of these familiar faces join our team in the future!
Peter Marshall
Regional Director
Kier Construction London, South and Strategic Projects
Our construction students have really been able to benefit from the site visits to the Town Hall building site. It has given them great insight into a working development, monitoring its progress. Being able to witness first-hand the skills that they are learning in our workshops being put into practice onsite is invaluable – it puts their college work into context. We're also grateful to the team at Kier and the council for welcoming our students and spending time talking to them about careers in the industry, inspiring them on their own career paths.
Paul Rolfe
Associate Principal Employers and Stakeholders
Chichester College Group
Thank you very much for visiting our Year 2 class. It was a lovely activity and the children thoroughly enjoyed doing it. They also loved their goody bags too. A wonderful experience!
Miss Blunden
Teacher
West Green Primary School
For more information about the council’s Employment and Skills Programme, visit investcrawley.co.uk/employment-and-skills.
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