A project set up to get more women involved in Olympic 2012 construction work is celebrating its successful expansion across the rest of London.
The ‘Women into Construction’ training and work experience scheme, run by BeOnsite and supported by CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Industry Training Board and Sector Skills Council, was set up in 2008 to encourage women in London boroughs surrounding the Olympics back into employment and construction.
The project initially trained 248 women aged 18-60 on the Olympic Park site between 2008 and July 2011, and since then has expanded across London, training a further 155 women, one of whom even qualified as a JCB driver while on day release while finishing a prison sentence.
Announcing the news, Judy Lowe, deputy chairman for CITB-ConstructionSkills and chair of the Construction industry Leadership Forum for Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) said: “Programmes like this one provide a fantastic opportunity for the construction industry to increase the number of women working on sites …Just over 1% of on-site employees are female and this needs to change sooner rather than later.”
Kath Moore, project manager for Women into Construction added: “Women into Construction has been a great success with half of the initial cohort having gone on to secure permanent employment in the industry. Schemes such as this help support the development of a diverse workforce, with women coming from a range of different backgrounds and circumstances.”
Women into Construction was initiated by the Olympic Delivery Authority as a response to the low numbers of women on site at the Olympic Park and was supported by 14 major contractors who provided work experience opportunities. The project doubled the number of women working on the Olympic site and has so far secured permanent roles for 49 women and work placements for 45 others.
