Cornish landlord Coastline Housing is beginning a series of work placements on its new affordable housing developments to give people a taste of a career in construction.

The housing charity is currently working with Mi-space, Cornwall College and VW Carpenters to provide an all-round work and training experience under its Coastline Construct back to work scheme at Quintrell Downs.

The scheme enables both Coastline customers and members of the wider community to gain experience of working on-site to help them kick-start a career in the construction industry.

Justin Ricks, Community Navigator at Coastline Housing, explains: “Participants on the scheme benefit from five days of live site experience in a range of trades and support to seek work or training moving forwards. We are so pleased to be offering these opportunities once more now that some Covid restrictions have been lifted, allowing us to invite placements back onto site again.”

Ben Mortimer-Crann, aged 17 of St Austell, has started his placement at the Quintrell Downs site where Mi-space, part of the Midas Group, is delivering 140 new homes for Coastline. It’s been so successful that contractor VW Carpenters has since offered Ben permanent employment with the company.

David Pengelly, Operations Director at Mi-space, said: “Ben came to us with a keen interest in carpentry and specifically timber frame construction, so we’ve been delighted to arrange tailored training and experience for him. It’s been incredibly rewarding to watch his skills and confidence develop on site, and for him to be offered an apprenticeship position as a result of his work placement.”

“Mi-space has built up a strong and lasting relationship with Coastline by supporting its Coastline Construct scheme. We’re very pleased to be able to continue contributing towards the success of this trailblazing programme at Quintrell Downs, enabling people to gain hands-on experience on a live site, boost their career prospects and aspirations, and create a lasting positive impact within the local community.”

Dave Rid, Contracts Manager at VW Carpenters said: ‘It’s always a pleasure to meet young people who are interested in carpentry, and a site based work experience placement is the perfect environment for that to happen. We’ve been very impressed with Ben, so much so that we are delighted to have made him an offer to join our team as an apprentice.”

“We are proud to be involved with this exciting project alongside Coastline Housing,” adds Laura Tellam, Business Manager for the Work Skills Training Academy. “Experience in a live workplace is invaluable. Coastline Construct is a great opportunity for people to try different skills and gain qualifications that will enable them enter employment in the sector.”

Coastline will be offering future work placement opportunities in construction at sites in Bodmin, Redruth and Penzance. If you are currently out of employment and would like to consider working in this industry, email backtowork@coastlinehousing.co.uk for details.