Bovis Homes invited two groups of young people to visit its The Gateway location in Bexhill to see the new houses under construction.
The first group comprised reception pupils from St Mary Magdalene Catholic Primary School who learned about different housebuilding processes, while the second visit involved three 16 to 20-year-olds who found out more about careers in construction.
Both trips were organised in conjunction with The Pelham, a Christian charity in Bexhill, which runs projects including The Pelham Building Enterprise. This provides jobs in construction for trainee labourers, alongside helping them achieve their health and safety training and CSCS cards, as an introduction to the construction industry.
Bovis Homes is working with The Pelham to deliver its Local Employment and Skills Plan (LESP), as part of the planning agreement for the new homes at The Gateway, to deliver social value and local opportunities to the community. The housebuilder also hosted a visit for reception pupils organised by The Pelham last year.
Ollie Jeffs, CEO of The Pelham, said: “With the success of last year’s trip to The Gateway, we thought it was a great idea to bring a new class of reception pupils to see the progress of the site.
“The children had a tour of the completed houses on the site, and got to experience some activities related to construction, such as bricklaying and carpentry. It was lovely to see the youngsters getting involved and perhaps being inspired to work in the industry when they’re older.”
After the site visit, the pupils were given a goodie bag including construction-related items such as tape measures and high visibility jackets. Bovis Homes also donated some items for the class to use in their play kitchen.
Early years teacher Janice Hambelton said: “The reception children have a topic called ‘no place like home’ where they learn about different types of homes, so the visit to the local development came right on time.
“The children particularly enjoyed seeing the diggers, and they went home telling their parents how much fun they had.”
The second visit saw three older students – a trainee from The Pelham and two members of the youth group – visiting the site to see houses at different stages of construction and find out more about careers in the industry.
Lee Cote, site manager at The Gateway, said: “It’s always great to see children getting excited about construction work. Although the job can be hard work, there is a lot of joy in accomplishing something so worthwhile as building people’s homes.
“With the older group looking to go into construction, we provided a more detailed view of the development, explaining the time pressures, schedules and hard work that is involved in working in construction, to give them a realistic view of what a career might be like.”
Bovis Homes, which is part of Vistry Group, is building a range of two, three and four-bed homes at The Gateway in Bexhill. This development has now sold more than 90% of its homes, with a new phase coming next year.
References to “we”, “us” or “our” are to the part of the Vistry Group (including Linden Homes, Bovis Homes, Countryside Homes, Drew Smith, Vistry Ventures or one of Vistry’s joint venture companies) from which you are intending to purchase a new home. References to "you” and “your” are to the prospective buyer or buyers of a new home from us.
All images are used for illustrative purposes only and are representative only. They may not be the same as the actual home you purchase and the specification may differ. Images may be of a slightly different model of home and may include optional upgrades and extras which involve additional cost. Individual features such as windows, brick, carpets, paint and other material colours may vary and also the specification of fittings may vary. Any furnishings and furniture are not included in any sale. Please check with our sales consultants for details of the exact specifications available at the development(s) for each type of home and the associated prices.
