Building skills for the future in Blackpool

Young Blackpool residents are benefiting from the construction work currently under way on Grange Park.

Blackpool-based RP Tyson Construction is the main contractor delivering 131 new homes on the Grange Park estate. As part of their commitment to giving back to the local community, they have been offering young residents a chance to experience the building trade.

Young people from The Boathouse Youth charity were invited along to a session where they started off by listening to a health and safety briefing before getting kitted out in some Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

Following this, the young people were introduced to bricklaying. This involved preparing trowels, basic trowel techniques and then onto building a wall. During this time, the young people were able to find out a little bit more about life as a bricklayer from cold weather days to finding out how much they could be paid.

Mollie, aged 14, said: “I really enjoyed attending Tysons builders because it was something I haven’t done before and it was very interesting.” Brooklyn, aged 12, said: “I loved Tysons because I learnt so much, built a wall and now I think I want to become a bricklayer when I am older.” Kayden, aged 14, said: “I thought I wanted to be a chef! But after the visit to Tysons, I think I want to learn how to become a successful bricklayer.”

Philip Helm, Business Development Manager at RP Tyson Construction, said: “We’ve been working on Grange Park for over a year now and have got to know the local community really well. When the Boathouse asked us to arrange a session for some young residents, we were more than happy to help. “Our team loved working with the young people and we were so impressed with how quickly they picked up the learn skills we had taught them.”

Following on from this, some of the youngest residents of the estate were given a tour of the site and their own chance to practice their own building skills.

Shannon Staveley, Class Teacher at Christ The King Catholic Academy, said: “ The Year 2 children had a wonderful time visiting the site. Recently, they have been learning about Electricity in Science and Architecture in Art so our learning was really brought to life through this experience. The children loved the tour of the site, they identified the pipes used for electricity and got to ask questions about the solar panels and why they are being included in the build.

“They also got to experience designing their own houses and they considered each feature very carefully. Some would say their favourite part was building their own model house out of wooden blocks. They had to make sure they used the correct technique for bricklaying! Thank you to all of the team at Tyson because Year 2 loved it!”

Cllr Jo Farrell, Cabinet Member for Levelling Up (People), said: “It is great to see a local company giving back to the community in which they are working. The team at Tyson have given up their time to hold sessions with a variety of young people living on Grange Park and we have had great feedback from them all.

“It is vitally important that local residents benefit from the regeneration projects that are taking place on their doorstep.”

The first new properties are reaching completion with the first tenants due to move in this summer.