LSC Construction Week Award Winners

Young construction industry trainees had their trowels, hammers, paintbrushes, soldering irons and wrenches at the ready as they took part in a regional skills competition organised by Black Country Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and four Black Country Colleges, as part of National Construction Week 2004.

Young construction industry trainees had their trowels, hammers, paintbrushes, soldering irons and wrenches at the ready as they took part in a regional skills competition organised by Black Country Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and four Black Country Colleges, as part of National Construction Week 2004.

The competition, hosted by the Black Country Built Environment CoVE (Centre of Vocational Excellence) at Stourbridge College’s Advanced Technology Centre, saw young construction trainees competing for prestigious prizes in carpentry and joinery, painting and decorating, electrical installation, brickwork and plumbing, at both entry level and level 2 standard.

Category winners, carpentry and joinery were Steven Round (entry level) and Luke Barnett (level 2), both of whom study at the Dudley College of Technology, whilst in the painting and decorating section the winners were Chris Brierley (entry level) from Sandwell New Horizons and Oliver Brown (level 2) who studies at Stourbridge College.

Winner of the electrical installation (level 2) competition was Adam Jones who studies at Stourbridge College whilst Matt Wood (entry level – Stourbridge College) and Steven Rollinson (level 2 – Dudley College of Technology) took the prizes in the brickwork category. The plumbing winners were Shane Rob (entry level – Dudley College of Technology) and Todd Dulson (level 2) who studies at Stourbridge College.

The skills competition was organised by Black Country LSC in partnership with the four local colleges as part of a regional and national drive to address the skills shortage facing the construction industry and to encourage more young people to consider construction as a career option.

Ian Martin, Sector Manager for Construction, Black Country LSC, explains; “We were delighted by the number of young trainees who took part in the competition and by the levels of skill and commitment on show. The competition provided these young people with the chance to put the skills they have developed in college to the test in a fun and competitive environment and it also provided us with a great way of promoting the industry to other young people in the Black Country.

“The ageing workforce in the construction industry is something of a skills time-bomb nationally and here in the Black Country. The Construction Industry Training Board estimates that some 76,000 people need to be recruited into the industry every year until December 2006 if we are to meet current growth targets and train sufficient numbers of people to replace those who are leaving the industry.

“On a local level, this means that we are tasked with encouraging young people to enter into the industry as well as developing the skills of the existing workforce, in order to meet the current and future skills needs of construction employers in the Black Country. The skills competition is just one of a range of initiatives we are implementing to help us achieve this goal and we hope that it was an enjoyable experience for all of those who took part.”

Black Country LSC is taking the lead on a variety of projects designed to develop skills levels for the future prosperity of the Black Country’s construction industry. The training facilities for construction workers in the region are state of the art, thanks to the £8million ATC in Brierley Hill, which plays a key part in the Black Country’s CoVE status awarded in 2003. One of the first training centres of its kind in Europe, the ATC provides specially designed workshop areas that have been purpose-built to recreate domestic and industrial environments, allowing students to learn in real life environments and acquire the skills which local employers are looking for.