Local students gain hands-on construction experience

Tanya and Skye on site with the Connolly Ltd team

Two Rochdale students have been getting hands-on experience in their chosen career as part of a partnership between Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), Connolly Ltd and Hopwood Hall College.

Tanya McQuay and Skye Anderton, both from Rochdale, are enjoying their first experience on a site, and have been working hard to help the Connolly team treat, prepare, and paint homes, inside and out.

They said: “We’ve been working on site with Connolly’s for the last two weeks and have really enjoyed it so far. It’s been good to get hands on experience on a real site and we really appreciate the opportunity.”

RBH and Connolly identified that there was an opportunity to offer safe and meaningful work experience for young people starting out on their career in the construction industry. Working with Hopwood Hall College, the partnership is offering work experience opportunities to women who want to pursue a career in construction.

Simon Harrison, Managing Director at Connolly Ltd, said: “Connolly Ltd are proud to provide Tanya and Skye with the opportunity of a placement on works on behalf of RBH. Working with our locally established directly employed teams, they will receive the necessary guidance and support required to develop a long-term career in the construction sector. Our business is a great supporter of women in construction – currently over 20% of our workforce are women.”

The Connolly team have loved having the duo as part of the team and been impressed by their work ethic, genuine passion, and excellent team working. 

Aine Graven, Social Value Coordinator at RBH, said: “Meaningful work experience has been shown to have a positive impact on employability skills, motivation in education, career-decision making, and knowledge of the world of work. We are really proud to be able to create partnerships through our supply chain that deliver genuine benefit such as this for Rochdale residents.”

Lorraine Brough-Jones, Work Experience Development Officer at Hopwood Hall College, said: “Hopwood Hall are excited to collaborate with RBH to create opportunities for work experience. These opportunities help our students prepare for work and gives them valuable hands on work experience to build on their skill set and develop their confidence, motivation and commitment.”