Building students at a Rhyl college had a taste of the world of work when they visited a £2.3 million construction site in the town.
The 11 Building Craft Foundation Course students from Llandrillo College Rhyl were at Wales & West Housing’s site at Cefndy Road in the town where they have contracted leading North Wales building firm Anwyl Construction to work on a new housing estate.
Rhyl-based Anwyl are building 24 homes, 16 houses and eight flats on the former ITT factory land.
It is the second phase of a major mixed use project to bring homes and jobs to the 3.3 acre site where Anwyl built a 14,000 square foot commercial building two years ago, part of which now houses kitchens giant Howdens Joinery.
The students were given a tour of the site by Matthew Allport, 25, from Prestatyn, an Anwyl Construction assistant site manager and the company’s Construction Ambassador, who joined the company as an apprentice joiner at 16, and Olivia Hughes, 23, from Prestatyn, Anwyl Marketing and Community Engagement Officer who has also recently become the company’s CITB Construction Ambassador.
They also had the chance to talk to members of the construction team at the site including Anwyl Quantity Surveyor Steve McCormick, Contracts Manager Mark White and Health and Safety Advisor Ian Gillespie and then took part in activities designed to give them a taste of the varied skills needed to run a building site successfully.
With the students was Carpentry and Joinery Lecturer Thomas Morgan, who served his apprenticeship with Anwyl, and he said: “It’s great for the students to see a real site and how it works and how important safety is.
“This is a real working environment and it gives them a true taste of the world of work and what a house looks like from the inside.
“They are looking at a total house build and hopefully they will gain a lot from the experience and it brings the work they do with us at the college alive.
“Anwyl have always taken on apprentices. I served my time with them and they recognise the importance of apprenticeships and have links with many of the colleges.”
Student Aaron Bellis, 18, of Meliden, hopes to make a career in construction and he said: “It’s been a really good experience to see what happens on a real site. I want to go into groundworks and I’ve learned a lot here today.”
Peter McKeown, 17, from Rhyl, wants to become a bricklayer when he completes the 12-month foundation course and he said: “It’s been great. We’ve learned a lot about health and safety and about the various jobs on site.
“I would like to do bricklaying and am hoping to go on a Level One course and then complete the full course and end up working somewhere like this.”
Matthew Allport said: I know from my own experience how valuable these site visits are for apprentices and I have taken students around on previous sites I’ve worked on.
“We do things properly at Anwyls so it gives them a good insight into how a building site should work.”
Craig Sparrow, Development Manager for Wales & West Housing, said: “Work on this housing development is progressing well.
“I am delighted that this project is not only providing much needed homes for local residents, but also providing training opportunities for local students.”
