2016 Mowlem Award winners case study

Women into Construction

Please tell us a little about Women into Construction and what you do.

Women into Construction is a not-for-profit organisation that supports women wishing to build their careers in the construction industry and construction companies wishing to increase gender diversity and offer opportunities to women.

Can you give an example of someone your organisation has helped?

Karen Hall came to Women into Construction with a HND in Aerospace Engineering and health and safety experience within a laboratory setting. She was keen to utilise her skills within a dynamic environment and was studying for her NEBOSH National Certificate in Health and Safety.

Thanks to a grant from B&CE’s Charitable Trust, she was able to gain her CSCS card. Women into Construction then connected Karen with Crossrail’s health and safety team. Following this, Karen successfully applied for an Assistant Health and Safety Advisor position with Crossrail. The Mowlem Award enabled Karen to take her career further by studying and achieving the SMSTS qualification.

Karen has now moved from an assistant, to a supervisory position within Crossrail, where she is providing mentoring support for women using her own training and work experience route into construction.

What does winning the Mowlem Award and the grant mean to you and your organisation?

Women into Construction were delighted to win the Mowlem Award for 2016.

The Award was used to fund three women’s access to take the site supervisors’ safety training scheme (SSSTS), three women’s access to take the site managers’ safety training scheme (SMSTS), and a further three women’s national executive board of safety and health (NEBOSH) training. It also enabled them to gain the work experience they needed to consolidate their training.

A further 20 women gained work experience on a construction project in the UK as a direct result of the Mowlem Award. They also gained the coaching and mentoring support they needed to progress into employment.

Without the Mowlem Award, these women would not otherwise have been able to gain access to training and employment in the construction industry. So, its impact was hugely positive.

How will the funding help you and/or your organisation? What will it allow you to achieve?

The Mowlem Award has enabled Women into Construction to offer essential health and safety qualifications – that are very much in demand – to a cohort of women who are then able to use them to progress into the industry. The women initially completed work placements to gain experience, before moving into paid employment.

Anything you’d like to say about the service and support you’ve received from us?

Women into Construction are delighted with the support and service we have received from B&CE’s Charitable Trust. Without their recognition of the barriers facing women wishing to work in the construction industry, and their support to fund training and other practical solutions, these women would have missed the great opportunities available to them in this interesting and well-paid industry.