£5m CITB Funding Boost to get Hard-to-Reach Candidates into Construction

THE BIGGEST-EVER CITB funding opportunity opened on 20 October, 2018, with a £5 million commission to help under-represented groups into the construction industry.

‘Pathways into Construction’ will help connect employers with people who traditionally don’t enter construction, including the unemployed, women of all ages and full-time learners who study construction, but struggle to join the industry.

CITB is welcoming funding applications from organisations that work with one or more of the following groups to help them into construction:

• Young people who are not in education, training or work, particularly where existing networks are already in place
• The long-term unemployed
• Service Leavers who left the military at least 12 months ago
• Women wishing to join construction
• Full-time learners (focused on CBE Diploma students)

£5m CITB Funding Boost

The £5m CITB fund follows extensive research into training and employment issues in the industry, including routes into construction careers, work readiness, recruiting young people who are not in education, training or work, and pre-employment interventions, like work experience and gaining soft skills.

Stephen Cole, Head of Careers Strategy at CITB, says, “CITB’s new commission, Pathways into Construction opens up a huge opportunity for the industry. With Brexit on the horizon, the fund will widen employers’ pool of domestic talent, diversify the industry and increase opportunities for those on the margins of construction, improving social mobility.

“By working with organisations that specialise in reaching these groups, the fund will facilitate the creation of sustainable partnerships and help the industry reach new talent that’s previously been untapped.”

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