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£100k construction training hub unveiled in Birmingham

A new £100,000 construction training hub next to the Commonwealth Games athletes’ village site was described as a "blessing" by students as it was formally unveiled.

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Birmingham City Council Ian Award, project director Anna Evans for Perry Barr residential scheme at Lendlease and trainees Imaan Khan and Zubar Akram

The facility in Perry Barr, which has been funded by the West Midlands Combined Authority, will create around 400 job opportunities, including 100 apprenticeships, over the next few years.

It is already providing free construction training over a comprehensive 20-day course, covering skills ranging from driving dumper trucks to asbestos awareness.

Many of the new recruits will get to work on the opposite side of Wellhead Lane helping to transform the former university campus into the athletes’ village – and then 1,400 permanent homes after – while others will be set up to take on jobs elsewhere in the city, including projects such as HS2.

“It came out of the blue it’s been a blessing in way with the opportunities this is going to give me in the future,” said Zubar Akram, who is a couple of weeks away from completing the course.

Imaan Khan and Zubar Akram

The 36-year-old father-of-one from Sparkhill said he struggled to find work for six months following a period out of the country, until applying for the programme.

He added: “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but never had an avenue to get into it.

“The instructors have really helped me and explained things in a way you can understand, because most of us haven’t got a proper education.

“The type of training they are offering is probably one of the best courses you can get, they give us like 10 to 15 certificates.

“Hopefully I will get a job here [in the athletes’ village] but if not they are going to find us a job somewhere in Birmingham. This has opened a lot of doors.”

While mother-of-one Imaan Khan said her initial plans to get into the construction industry were put on hold after having her daughter, now three.

The 27-year-old from Handsworth said: “I have always had a love for construction and engineering but to find a route into it has been hard.

“I’ve absolutely loved the course, loved being on that dumper truck I could be on that all day every day.

“I was due to start an apprenticeship in September but now I am mulling over my options.

“I actually just want to do all of the mucky stuff, the ground works, I love being hands-on.

“But they have opened my mind up to different sides of construction like project management or site management.”

The hub is the first of several the WMCA is setting up in the region after unlocking £2.3m of investment from the Government’s £20m Construction Skills Fund.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said: “We look forward to seeing hundreds of local people having the chance to directly benefit from new construction jobs being created in their area.”

Birmingham City Council Leader Ian Ward declared the hub was one of the reasons why the Commonwealth Games was not "just about sport".

He said: “Ensuring we give young people in this city and the wider region the skills they are going to need, the access to jobs of the future is vitally important and a really important legacy from Birmingham hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2022.”

Lendlease, appointed as principle contractor for the games village by the council, has provided the space for the new hub.

It will eventually be dismantled and relocated to one of their other major Birmingham projects – the Smithfield site.

The WMCA will work alongside the council, Lendlease, the Construction Industry Training Body, Scape, Birmingham Careers Hub, Jobcentre Plus, Arcadis and Careys Plc to maximise employment and training opportunities through the hub.

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