Merseyside housing association, Livv Housing Group, has provided financial support to help 40 of its customers from across the Knowsley borough to gain their Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. The card is key to opening doors to jobs on construction sites.
The Gate at L14 community centre in North Huyton received £13,840 of funding from Livv to enable the running of four CSCS green card training sessions. Each course gave 10 Livv customers, who were interested in pursuing a career in construction, the opportunity to access free training to get a CSCS card — a requirement for those wanting to work in the sector. Participants also completed their Level 1 Award in Health and Safety.
The CSCS green card is valid for five years and provides proof that the individual holding it has undertaken the required training to enable them to carry out entry-level work as a labourer on a construction site. By ensuring the workforce are appropriately qualified, the card plays its part in improving standards and safety on UK construction sites.
Rhiannon Canavan, Project Manager at The Gate at L14, commented: “We are very grateful for the financial support provided to us by Livv as we have been able to help more people in the local area to get into employment. All construction sites require workers to hold a CSCS card therefore the funding really has made a huge difference, allowing doors to be opened to new opportunities.
“Out of the 40 people who recently embarked on the course, 34 of them have now been employed. I can’t express how happy and proud I am of them all. Thank you to Livv for your continued support on our community centre activities — we really do appreciate it.”
Amanda Newton, Executive Director of Customer Insight at Livv Housing Group, said: “One of our priorities as a business delivering social impact in our communities is to unlock potential and give people opportunities to flourish. As part of our Future Skills project, we focus our efforts on helping our customers find routes into employment by providing sector-based training programmes.
“We are constantly engaging with our local communities to identify how we can provide support as a landlord that is anchored in the borough. As the construction industry is one of the fastest growing in the country and the demand for resources continues to rise, we’re really excited and proud to support the CSCS card training at The Gate and to help our customers get into work and out on site.”
Header image shows CSCS card training underway at The Gate at L14.