News & Events

Apprentices at the Southwark Construction Skills Centre have been supporting Surrey Docks Farm, a working community farm and education charity in South East London, in building a shelter for its animals.

The Skills Centre, which has trained more than 10,000 local residents and helped create more than 3,000 jobs in the construction sector, has previously worked with Surrey Docks Farm to improve disabled access and was keen to support the charity further, as well as build a commitment to social responsibility among its apprentices.

Surrey Docks Farm was first established in 1975 and is now on a 2.2-acre site on the river Thames at South Wharf.

The Farm is run by Surrey Docks Farm Provident Society Limited and provides a range of farming and educational experiences, including giving adults with learning disabilities, opportunities to gain confidence and independence through the development of horticulture and retail skills.

With the support of construction specialists, Keltbray, which provided a range of building materials, five apprentices from Southwark Construction Skills Centre built a shelter base for Surrey Docks Farm’s donkeys. Donkeys do not have a natural build-up of grease to make their coat waterproof and need somewhere to shelter from the British weather.

We would like to give a huge thank-you to the Southwark Construction Skills Centre for their continued support of the Farm. We're delighted to get the donkeys hard standing area completed so quickly and look forward to further projects with the apprentices.

The field shelter was funded through a memorial donation on behalf of someone who regularly visited and enjoyed the Farm. It's wonderful that we can complete all the work in a community-focused way and get on with this, rather than wait on the groundwork. The donkeys (and all of our team) are delighted by this improvement to their living quarters!"

Gemma Hooper - Manager at Surrey Docks Farm

John White, Director of The Skills Centre added:

The apprentices worked extremely hard, and I am delighted that we were able to support such a great cause. We know apprenticeships work and it was great to see both them and the farm benefiting from their efforts. Our apprentices not only gained skills valuable on large construction sites, but they also saw how they can use their skills to enrich their local communities.

Now that the Southwark Construction Skills Centre is moving from its original base at Elephant Park to a new home at Canada Water, we will be closer than ever to the Farm. We thoroughly enjoyed working with them and look forward to having our apprentices helping out again very soon."

If you have any questions about the new training opportunities at Canada Water, please don’t hesitate to call 0203 621937 or email enquiries@theskillscentre.co.uk.

Southwark residents are invited to learn more about free construction training opportunities at an Open Day at our new site in Canada Street, Canada Water, on Thursday, 29^th July from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Local people who may have recently been made redundant, are looking to retrain, return to work following furlough, or just an extended work break are invited to come along to find out about the training available. The Open Day will, of course, be fully Covid compliant.

Up to 500 Southwark residents will be offered free construction and digital skills training at the Southwark Construction Skills Centre in the coming months, thanks to a partnership between The Skills Centre, The Blue Bermondsey, Big Local Works and Southwark Council.

Those taking part in the training will have direct access to job opportunities at the £500million redevelopment of the former Peek Frean biscuit factory and at ongoing works at Canada Water and Old Kent Road developments.

John White MBE, Director of Southwark Construction Skills Centre (SCSC), said: “Here at SCSC, we have trained thousands of people from all over London since opening in 2016, and have helped them start their new careers in construction.

“With so many big construction projects going on in and around Southwark at the moment, we think it’s important that the local community benefits from these job opportunities as much as possible, and so we are looking to help secure local training and jobs, for local people.

“The range of opportunities in construction may surprise some people – come along to find out. No previous experience is required as we have a programme of pre-employability training to get people started on their new career in construction.”

The Southwark Construction Skills Centre also includes a community digital classroom at the new site in Canada Street, Canada Water. This facility will be open to all Southwark residents and offer digital skills training to help those who might find themselves out of work because of the pandemic or need digital refresher courses.

• Construction is a career for all – find out more!
• No previous experience is required!
• Hear from trainees
• Meet the trainers
• Meet the employers
• Find out more about free courses available to you

Find us here:

Southwark Construction Skills Centre,
Canada Street
Surrey Quays Road
London
SE16 7PJ

11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Bermondsey residents are invited to learn more about free construction training opportunities at an Open Day on the site of the former Thorowgoods department store on Southwark Park Road, Saturday May 8^th from 8.30am to 1.30pm.

Local people who may have recently been made redundant, are looking to retrain, return to work following furlough or just an extended work break are invited to come along to find out about the training available. The Open Day will of course be fully Covid compliant.

Up to 500 Bermondsey residents will be offered free construction and digital skills training at the Southwark Construction Skills Centre in the coming months, thanks to a partnership between The Skills Centre, The Blue Bermondsey, Big Local Works and Southwark Council.

Those taking part in the training will have direct access to job opportunities at the £500million redevelopment of the former Peek Frean biscuit factory, as well as at ongoing works at Canada Water and Old Kent Road developments.

John White MBE, Director of Southwark Construction Skills Centre (SCSC), said: “Here at SCSC, we have trained hundreds of people from all over London since opening in 2016, and have helped them start their new careers in construction.

“With so many big construction projects going on in and around Southwark at the moment, we think it’s important that the local community benefits from these job opportunities as much as possible and so we are looking to help secure local training and jobs, for local people.

“The range of opportunities in construction may surprise some people – come along to find out. No previous experience is required as we have a programme of pre-employability training to get people started on their new career in construction.”

The Southwark Construction Skills Centre also includes a community digital classroom at the site of former high street department store Thorowgoods on Southwark Park Road. This facility will be open to all Southwark residents and offer digital skills training, again to help those who might find themselves out of work because of the pandemic, or in need of digital refresher courses.

For more information about the pop-up training facility, please visit www.theskillscentre.co.uk

Students from The Skills Centre’s Southwark training facility are the first in the UK to benefit from training qualifications in zero-emission electric plant, thanks to a partnership with JCB.

The Skills Centre’s Director John White has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of The British Empire) for his determination to empower a community through his tireless work to help find people work and upskill people in his community.

1,000 new construction jobs and free training available thanks to partnership between The Skills Centre and O’Halloran & O’Brien