Are you part of an organisation running a project to deliver great training which results in employability within construction?

About The Construction Employability Award

The Construction Employability Award is an annual £20,000 grant given to organisations that can demonstrate they will make a significant difference towards training and employability within construction.

This grant helps organisations enable new talent in construction. The initiatives these organisations provide include trade-specific training, apprenticeships, and access to skills development. The grant also assists those who offer support around mental wellbeing and personal disadvantages in the workplace.

Over the course of the last decade, we’ve helped multiple businesses who’ve demonstrated their commitment to improving employability in construction. First called the Mowlem Award, we changed the award’s name in 2023 to better reflect the purpose of the grant.

Applications

The Construction Employability Award 2024/25 opened for applications on 23 September 2024 and closed on 25 October 2024. The winner will be announced in December.

Previous award winners

Here are some of the previous recipients of the award and how they’ve used their grant to improve access to employment in construction.

YouthBuild Ventures UK – 2023 winner

Their enterprise

When they see an unemployed young person, they don’t see a statistic or a problem to solve. Rather, they see a unique and undiscovered source of potential, with the power to transfer not just themselves but their communities also. YouthBuild Ventures UK work to make themselves ‘

“the last place a young person needs to come before reaching a positive and sustained destination in work or further training.”

They’ve taken a holistic approach to employment training, acknowledging that it’s not solely the lack of training that creates barriers to employment. Their training spaces go beyond providing a place to learn, they also create an environment of belonging, where all who walk through their doors know they have a place at the table. Their psychotherapeutic approaches to self-esteem and mental wellbeing also help tackle the unseen barriers and challenges many young people face, particularly the vulnerable.

We understand that it takes more than skills to succeed, therefore high-quality skills training embeds the attitudes and behaviours required to succeed and lead in the industry. Our commitment extends beyond job placement, offering ongoing support for both youth and employers.

Shenaaz Chenia, YouthBuild Ventures UK

Our award

Their values-driven approach to youth unemployment along with their proven track record of success showed us just how much our grant would help young people. YouthBuild Ventures UK have used this award to develop talent for the construction industry that have trade skills as well as transferable skills in green construction and a mindset to build sustainably.

This award will help to build a direct pipeline from training to employment within net-zero construction, helping to build sustainable careers for young people as well as a sustainable infrastructure.

In particular, this grant has targeted 65 care leavers and other vulnerable young people, supporting them into meaningful and sustainable employment. In doing so, it aims to get over 80% of participants into employment or further training.

View more case studies from our award winners:

• Constructionarium – 2022 winner
• Construction Youth Trust – 2021 winner
• EN:Able Communities – 2020 winner – Construction training
• Essex Youthbuild – 2019 winner – Construction charity
• Mates in Mind – 2018 winner – Mental health charity
• St-Eds – 2017 winner – Employability charity
• Women into Construction – 2016 winner – Gender equality not-for-profit
• Shekinah – 2015 winner – Vulnerable people support charity