Rydon and The Prince’s Trust build career foundations in Camden

One of Camden’s largest construction projects has offered a group of young unemployed people a first step into a career in construction through The Prince’s Trust.

The group of 11, aged 18-25, have been on the latest ‘Get into Construction’ programme, which has been run by The Prince’s Trust and Rydon over the past two weeks at the regeneration of Bacton Low Rise in Camden’s Gospel Oak.

The placement has helped the group gain the confidence and skills they need to start a career in the industry. Each person was able to try their hand at a number of trade skills including carpentry, plumbing and bricklaying.

Supervised throughout by The Prince’s Trust and Rydon, the programme was delivered with the support of subcontractors who are working on Bacton Low Rise, providing first-hand experience of what is involved on a large scale project.

Each person also had the opportunity to secure a CSCS card, an industry-essential qualification required in order to work on a construction site.

The young people were recognised for their achievements with a certificate from The Prince’s Trust at a final presentation event held at the site.

They will now receive a further six months support from The Trust to assist them in moving into sustainable employment within the industry.

Peter Robertson, Group Strategy and Business Development Director for Rydon, said:

“Our industry depends on the next generation of talent to help build and create developments such as the fantastic regeneration of Bacton Low Rise. The Prince’s Trust programme is a way of discovering these people whilst helping to address local unemployment in the communities where we work. I know that those who took part have learnt an enormous amount over the past two weeks and we wish them every success in their future careers.”

Ben Marson, Director of National Corporate Partnerships at The Prince’s Trust, added:

“It’s fantastic to be working in partnership with Rydon and Camden council to better young people’s lives. Rydon has been a long term corporate partner of The Prince’s Trust and over the years have helped many young people turn their lives around and start successful careers in the Built Environment sector.”

Cllr Julian Fulbrook, Cabinet Member for Housing, Camden Council, said:

“It’s been great working with Rydon and The Prince’s Trust through the Community Investment Programme. Together we are tackling unemployment and offering local people training and careers in the construction industry.”

The regeneration of Bacton Low Rise is a £50m redevelopment by Rydon involving the full demolition of the estate, which suffers from inefficient design and is in poor condition, making way for 290 new homes comprising 176 for open market sale, 104 for affordable rent and 10 for shared ownership.

Other improvements include a new and altered public realm, landscaping, vehicular and pedestrian links as well as three new retail units.

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