October 2020

Industry News
LIFETIME SKILLS
Construction must be made a strategic
priority for life learning, according to the
Federation of Master Builders (FMB) who
were responding to the Prime Minister’s
speech outlining an expansion of post-18
education and training.
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said:
“The Government intends for us to ‘build, build,
build’ our way to economic recovery, but the
construction industry is facing a skills shortage
which is hampering our ability to do so. One in
three builders can’t hire a bricklayer and one in
four can’t hire general labourers. The
Government is right to invest in further
education, but it should focus on the building
trades as a priority.”
Berry concluded: “The Government’s pledge to
review and reform apprenticeship training is
very encouraging provided it can lead to more
local builders training more apprentices. This
should mean forging stronger links between
SMEs and colleges so that they have access to
the communication and support that they
need. Extra funding for colleges needs to
include ringfenced funds for them to employ
industry liaison officers who could act as a
conduit between the colleges, students and
employers to help join up the dots.”
Steve Radley, CITB Policy Director, said: “More
funding and training flexibility for employers
through the Lifetime Skills Guarantee
announced by the Prime Minister is a critical
first step to support construction’s recovery.
Changing apprenticeship funding rules to
recognise prior learning and allowing large
employers to spend surplus Apprenticeship
Levy funds in bulk will be vital to ensure the
apprenticeship programme can more flexibly
respond to industry’s skills needs. This is
something that CITB and the CLC has engaged
with Government in the Roadmap to Recovery
plan, and I am delighted that the Government
has listened.”
More news, updates and interviews at www.total-contractor.co.uk
SECTOR RISES TO LRWA’S VIRTUAL EVENT
The Liquid Roofing and Waterproofing
Association (LRWA) has revealed the winners
of its Virtual Dragon Team Challenge – an
event which has raised thousands for mental
health charity, Mates in Mind.
Teams of up to 11 people from across the
industry were challenged to walk, run, cycle or
swim as far as they could in 30 minutes. Bonus
kilometres were available for the photo of the
activity in the most original place and the team
with the highest fundraising.
The winners were awarded based on the total
kilometres achieved between 10th and 30th
August 2020. A total of 66 participants across six
teams took part and collectively travelled 377
kilometres within the three weeks.
The gold medal was awarded to ‘Westwood
Warriors’ (Westwood Liquid Technologies). The
silver medal went to ‘Proteus Spartans’ (Proteus
Waterproofing) and bronze to ‘Enter the Dragon’
(Polyroof).
Other teams to take part were ‘Moy Magic’ (Moy),
the ‘Decothane Dragons’ (Sika Liquid Plastics)
and the ‘LRWA Legends’ (LRWA).
The team that raised the most money for Mates in
Mind was ‘Enter the Dragon’, which was awarded
10 bonus kilometres for donating £1,010. Proteus
Spartans achieved the bonus kilometres for the
most original photo, which was taken by Jamie
Holden (pictured) who completed his run outside
Buckingham Palace.
To date, the challenge has raised more than
£3,000 for Mates in Mind and it will be donated to
its Covid-19 Relief Fund, which will help support
crucial mental health programmes during the
crisis.
Sarah Spink, CEO of the LRWA, said: “The Virtual
Dragon Team Challenge was launched as an
alternative to our Dragon Boat Regatta 2020,
which sadly had to be cancelled because of the
pandemic. Rather than waiting until next year, we
Above top: The WestWood Warriors (WestWood Liquid
Technologies) won the Gold Medal. Above: Proteus Spartans
received the bonus kilometres for the most original photo,
which was taken by Jamie Holden who completed his run
outside Buckingham Palace.
wanted to find a way to bring people together
virtually and show our support for Mates in Mind
during the Covid-19 crisis.
“People have gone to a lot of effort to get involved
and many participants took the opportunity to
gain extra kilometres by taking selfies at original
locations. In addition to the photo outside
Buckingham Palace, we have seen pictures of LS
Lowry’s house, the Severn Bridge and Dunluce
Castle in northern Ireland to name just a few.
“We’d like to congratulate the Westwood Warriors
for a great performance and thank everyone who
took part and made this event such a success.
It’s proved a great way to get people talking,
sharing their photos, and raising a significant
amount of money for a very worthwhile cause.”
12 TC OCTOBER 2020