The Henry Boot Construction team in Manchester recently took part in the collaborative ‘Have a Go’ event with the North West Construction Hub (NWCH) and partners on the framework. 

Organised for primary and secondary schools across Manchester, the event aimed to promote careers in construction, change preconceptions of the industry and help those looking for training and employment opportunities. Held at The Factory Youth Zone in Ashton, the venue was arranged like a market with a wide variety of stalls presenting to 240 pupils throughout the day.

All the students had the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at trade demonstrations throughout the event, such as joinery, bricklaying, painting and decorating. whilst getting a glimpse into the future at the BIM Digital Construction experience stand. Office Manager Kelly Faulkner, who works in the Manchester office, gave talks on the different areas of construction, as well as teaching students about the importance of PPE, with children enjoying the opportunity to try on hard hats and high vis jackets.

The event also included STEM activities, introducing primary school children to engineering with the use of spaghetti and marshmallows to build bridges that would stand the table shake test and constructing giant Meccano sets. Pupils added stickers to indicate their view of jobs in construction before and after the activities. This helped understand whether their opinion had changed based on their experience of the event. At the end of the day, most children indicated they were more inspired by the industry.

It was an excellent day which was really well received by students and teachers, with great positivity from The Factory who are keen to hold more of these events. We look forward to helping plan the next event later this year.

Kelly Faulkner, Office Manager, Henry Boot Construction