National Youthbuilder of the Year Announced 31/10/06
Sean Fay, 21, from West Bromwich has been named this year's National Youthbuilding Award winner.
Sean received his award at a ceremony in Manchester, where Leader of Manchester City Council, Richard Leese, congratulated all the Youthbuild winners on their achievements.
Youthbuild is a unique scheme sponsored by NHBC, which provides training, qualifications, housing and employment for young people who might not normally have the opportunity to employment in the construction industry. The projects offer on-site experience, classroom based training, as well as wider personal and career support.
As the candidate that was initially considered 'most likely' to be removed from the programme, Sean's progress during his training impressed training and support staff.
Like many of the scheme's participants, Sean had faced difficulties in his early life. Excluded from school with no qualifications, Sean had been out of work and in trouble with the police.
Since his involvement with Youthbuild, he has achieved a Foundation Construction Award in Brickwork and a pre-vocational skills qualification.
Sean said: "I am very grateful for the 'Youthbuilder of the Year' award and that I was given the opportunity to participate in such a worth-while project. My life has changed a great deal because of the scheme. It's given me a chance to work and I can now look forward to a bright future."
As the overall Youthbuild winner Sean received a training award of £1,000 and is hoping to gain his Forklift Licence.
Rachel King, 21, from Brent in London was runner up in the 16 - 24 Youthbuild category and received £750 to spend on further training. As a young single mother, Rachel had no idea of what she wanted to do but knew she needed the financial security of a career.
Following in her Dad's footsteps, Rachel set out to become a qualified gas engineer and managed to secure one of just 16 places on an 'Ambition: Energy' course at Willesden College.
At the time Rachel was living in temporary accommodation with an eight week old baby and a one year old, and as well as juggling child care responsibilities, Rachel had to dedicate time to her work placement and studying.
Despite the many challenges, and with the support of the college, Rachel passed her NVQ 2 and gained full time employment as a gas engineer at T A Horn. She has also started an NVQ 3 course.
Vice President of Youthbuild, Kenneth Claxton, said: "We received more applications this year than ever before. It was a close run decision and I am positive both Sean and Rachel will come out of this experience with pride in their achievements."
In addition to Sean and Rachel's success there were two joint winners in the new category for under 16s - Luke Fisher from Nottingham and Keiron Wilks from Sheffield who received £200 each to spend on further training.
Imtiaz Farookhi, Chief Executive of NHBC, said: "NHBC has been sponsoring these awards for seven years now and we are proud to support Youthbuild as it embodies the very positive and practical role the construction industry can play in improving our society.
"The concept of Youthbuild is exemplary in the way it integrates skills training, work experience and personal development to really help young people realise their potential."
Ends
Notes to Editors
- Group and individual photos of the winners are available - e-mail mblamey@nhbc.co.uk
- Youthbuilding UK Forum Conference is sponsored by NHBC, Skanska, CITB, and Inclusion. The 10th Youthbuilding Conference will be held next year.
- NHBC is the UK's leading provider of construction NVQs. It provides its ten-year Buildmark warranty protection to new and newly converted homes throughout the UK.
