STEP spreads its net

A group of local unemployed young people from an estate in Bexley, South East London, are taking advantage of L&Q’s pioneering STEP construction programme.

STEP – the Supported Training and Employment Pathway - is run by Quadrant Community Investment (QCI), L&Q’s dedicated community investment division.

It gives supported training in a range of construction skills and offers trainees work experience on L&Q development projects or on sites run by our partner contractors.It is also helping to plug the shortage of qualified labour in the construction industry.

STEP was originally piloted in Waltham Forest, but due to its success it has now been rolled out to other areas.
The Bexley trainees are working on the North Cray estate where they live and will receive training to NVQ Level 2, the industry standard. This training is provided through Higgins CSV Springboard Centre in Bromley. Higgins Construction is also the firm building 103 homes for L&Q in the area.

Training is provided in specialist trades like bricklaying, carpentry, plastering, electrics and plumbing. These are all trades in huge demand to meet the planned regeneration of areas across London like the Thames Gateway which will cover 10 London boroughs.

For more information about STEP call 0208 557 2194.

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