Two female trainees, previously unemployed, have successfully completed a 10 week ‘Women in Construction’ placement with a local housing association and been given the opportunity to build a new career.

Rashida Hall and Denise Lee were part of a training programme run by Family Housing Association (Birmingham) Ltd in conjunction with Pertemps People Development Group and the Learning and Skills Council’s EQUAL programme.  Backed by the LSC’s European Social Fund (ESF) programme, the Association provided 10 trainee placements in July within their maintenance team giving women a chance to gain skills in carpentry, tiling, plastering, brick laying, painting and decorating. All trainees were previously unemployed for six months or more and have undertaken a buddy system with Family Housing staff for a 10 week period.

Rashida and Denise are the first two trainees from the programme to gain full time employment at Family Housing within their Painting and Decorating Team. Rashida and Denise said ‘the course was really worthwhile and we would definitely recommend it to others. We have enjoyed learning new skills and are very happy to get a job at the end of it all.’

Andrew Paul, Head of Property Services at Family Housing said ‘We are extremely pleased that Rashida and Denise are joining our Painting and Decorating Team as they have worked very hard during the training programme and shown dedication to their work. We are also assisting all the other trainees in securing employment and giving them the opportunity to take their skills development to the next stage at a local further education college. Due to the success of the project, we are now hoping to continue with more training programmes, helping more women gain experience and train for a new career in an area of work they might not have previously considered.’

Leon Edman, LSC coordinator of the EQUAL Agender project, comments ‘This is an important project that is encouraging women to gain skills and take up jobs in non-traditional roles and it is great that these two women have secured full-time jobs. The EQUAL programme provides support to projects that help to breakdown barriers to learning and address inequalities in the job market.’