Student carpenters and painters from Stephenson College, Coalville, found out what it's like to deliver a real-life large-scale housing improvement programme when they visited a company working with North West Leicestershire District Council to transform thousands of council homes locally.

Lovell took the 22 NVQ Level 2 students on a tour of its site office and warehouse at Coalville, Leicestershire, to enable them to gain an insight into the project. The company also set the students a challenge to design a new kitchen.

The Coalville base is the main office for Lovell’s work on North West Leicestershire District Council’s Decent Homes Improvement Programme. Through the scheme, the Lovell team is carrying out extensive home repair and replacement works ranging from kitchen, bathroom, boiler and central heating system upgrades, to installing new doors, windows and electrical re-wiring, as part of the Council’s investment in bringing properties up to the Decent Homes Standard.

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Rob Somerville, director of construction at Stephenson College, says: "This site visit was a great opportunity for our students. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience of visiting a ‘real-life’ project and speaking to the Lovell team about the realities of working in the industry. During the visit the students were given a project to complete, they also heard about the work experience and apprenticeship possibilities available through the project." Rob adds: "Stephenson College has had a successful partnership arrangement with Lovell for many years and I would like to thank the company for giving our students this fantastic experience."

Councillor Roger Bayliss, the Housing Portfolio Holder for North West Leicestershire District Council, says: "It is really pleasing to see that Lovell are offering opportunities within the district for local trainees to be part of what is the biggest investment in tenants’ homes that the Council has ever seen."

Lovell regional training advisor Sharon Tyer adds: "Lovell strongly believes in creating a legacy of benefits in the communities where we work. Visits such as this enable young people to talk to our team and find out more about our industry and what it’s like to work in construction. We also spoke to the Stephenson College students about future opportunities to gain apprenticeships working on the programme."

As well as giving the students a tour of the warehouse, Lovell discussed the sustainable aspects of the housing improvement scheme, such as waste management, and set the students a task to design a kitchen refurbishment programme and organise the timetable for the work.

(GK)