Building products giant Forterra has donated almost 2000 London Bricks to Carlisle College for use in SkillBuild, the UK’s largest and longest-running multi-trade construction competition.
This year’s competition was launched alongside WorldSkills 2019 at City of Glasgow College in April. The Carlisle College heat took place earlier this month and saw student and apprentice bricklaying competitors work to build a set piece within a limited timeframe.
SkillBuild, which is delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), has been running for over 50 years and covers 10 trade occupations. In addition to its Carlisle College donation, Forterra has donated more than 40,000 of its iconic London Bricks for use in SkillBuild bricklaying heats at nine colleges, and will also be providing the bricks for the SkillBuild UK National Final later this year.
Matty McLeish, Senior Lecturer in Construction at Carlisle College, said: “This was our first time hosting the SkillBuild regional heat at Carlisle College and it was a great success.
“Without Forterra’s sponsorship we wouldn’t have been able to see how well the candidates could work. We’d like to thank Forterra for their timely deliveries, great communication and resources, all of which helped this event to run smoothly and to a very high standard.”
Andy Houghton, Project Manager for SkillBuild, said: “SkillBuild is a great way for construction trainees and apprentices to discover some of the many opportunities the sector has to offer.
“Our Construction Skills Network forecasts that construction will grow by 1.3% per year between now and 2023 with 168,500 jobs set to be created, meaning the industry holds a great deal of career potential.”
Stephen Harrison, Chief Executive of Forterra, said: “Our sponsorship of CITB’s SkillBuild again in 2019 forms part of our nationwide effort to inspire ambition and foster raw talent in the next generation of construction workers.
“We hope our London Bricks help the students and apprentices participating in the competition’s regional heats and UK final to hone the vital skills needed for a successful future career in bricklaying.”
For more details about CITB SkillBuild 2019, visit https://www.goconstruct.org/construction-today/skillbuild/competitions/.
For more information about Forterra, please visit https://www.forterra.co.uk/. You can also follow the company on LinkedIn and on Twitter via @ForterraUK.
