BROMSGROVE's largest provider of affordable housing joined forces with a construction company to organise a community event for young people looking for a career in the trade.

Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (BDHT) teamed up with J Harper and Sons (Leominster) Ltd to open up its building site in Breakback Road, on October 2, where on-site work stations were provided for participants to have a go at plastering, plumbing, carpentry and bricklaying activities.

The events were designed to give residents the chance to try their hand at different trades, under supervision from trained staff.

As part of BDHT’s contract with J Harper and Sons for the redevelopment of garage sites, the construction specialist signed up to the Considerate Constructors Scheme.

This includes getting involved in Community Contributions - which assesses how contractors are interacting with the local community.

Contractors have in the past contacted local schools and organisations to present talks on subjects such as site safety.

But J Harper and Sons felt the location was well suited to getting young people on-site and offering them some hands-on experience, to try to inspire them to take up careers in construction.

There was also a raffle where participants could win a selection of tools, while J Harper and Sons representatives offered to take attendees CVs, and pass them on to subcontractors for consideration in future roles.

BDHT’s community base, the Starlight Cafe, and the YMCA advertised the initiative to their youth groups to encourage budding construction workers to come along and find out more.

Mike Brown, BDHT chief executive, said: "This was a great community initiative that helped to give local youngsters real hands-on experience and a taste for what a career in the construction industry is like.

"The participants thoroughly enjoyed getting their hands dirty and having a go at a variety of tasks on-site. It was a real eye opener for some and it was great to see the youngsters getting stuck in and enthusiastic about construction as a possible career choice. This is definitely something we will look into doing again in the future."