Young people who have been in care to get training and jobs on some of Britain’s biggest construction projects

Places for London, Transport for London (TfL)’s property company, and leading companies from across the construction and infrastructure industry have joined forces with Olympian Fatima Whitbread to bring career opportunities to those leaving or supporting people in the care system.

Nationally, around 40 per cent of young people aged 19–21 with care experience are unemployed or not in education, employment or training, according to ONS data1 – almost three times the rate among their peers (15 per cent). Care in Construction has been launched to help address this challenge by providing training, work placements, and direct routes into employment.

At an event last week, the partners and their wider working group came together with Olympian Fatima Whitbread, who spent 14 years in the care system herself and has become one of the UK’s most prominent advocates for young people with care experience to launch the scheme. The former Olympic champion has lent the expertise of her charity, FATIMA’S UK CAMPAIGN, to help connect the partners with care leavers and their families in order to support more people entering the construction industry.

Places for London, Heathrow, Gallagher Group and Lower Thames Crossing are working on some of the country’s biggest infrastructure or development sites across London and the south-east. Together, they are opening doors to an industry facing significant skills shortages, while creating life-changing opportunities for young people who are too often underrepresented in the workforce. The partners are working to ensure care leavers and those who support them can access training, work placements and career opportunities in the construction industry.

At a time when a third of the UK construction workforce is expected to retire within the next ten years and the average worker is aged 452, the programme demonstrates how the industry can tackle skills shortages and social inequality at the same time.  Through Care in Construction, the partners are helping to build the next generation of skilled workers while ensuring young people with care experience can access training, support and long-term employment opportunities.

Kyian, aged 20, and Leighton, aged 16 - two care-experienced young men who have recently completed a course with The Skills Centre and Marlborough Highways - are now looking forward to taking up an apprenticeship with the highways and civil engineering contractor. Following difficult situations in their childhoods, they both entered the care system at a young age, and want to see more people who are in or leaving care take up these opportunities to learn new skills and find careers in this rewarding industry.

More than 60 care-experienced young people will be supported into employment through the programme, which has the potential to create wider opportunities for thousands more care-experienced young people across London, the southeast and the rest of the UK in the years ahead.

The scheme’s working group also brings in expertise from the Drive Forward Foundation, a charity for care-experienced people, and civil engineering contractor Marlborough Highways.

Through Care in Construction, the partners will open new pathways into an industry many young people may never have considered accessible, giving them the training and confidence to help build some of the UK’s biggest projects. It will also ensure that those leaving care have access to resources to support them in their first steps into the industry.

Places for London will build on its work to date that has seen thousands of people trained through its programmes with its training partner The Skills Centre. Through its five skills hubs across London, Places for London has trained more than 12,000 people and supported thousands into long-term careers in the built environment sector. By providing work experience placements, on-site training at its development sites and skills hubs, Places for London is not only opening up opportunities for people but also helping London and the UK grow.

In addition, Heathrow, the UK’s busiest airport, has already begun helping care leavers with a Care into Construction reverse careers fair introducing them to the roles with them and their supply chain and it is working with its vast supply chain to build inclusive learner pathways.

The programme also responds to a growing demand for skilled workers across the construction and infrastructure sectors, demonstrating how employers can tackle skills shortages while creating meaningful impact.

Laura Miller, Head of Skills & Growth at Places for London, said: “No young person should be disadvantaged because they grew up in care. By bringing together some of the construction industry’s biggest employers, Care in Construction is creating real opportunities for young people to gain valuable skills, access rewarding careers and fulfil their potential.. This programme is about confidence, ambition and showing young people with care experience that there is a place for them in an industry that helps shape the future of our towns, cities and communities.”

Fatima Whitbread MBE, Founder of FATIMA’S UK CAMPAIGN, said: “I am incredibly proud that FATIMA’S UK CAMPAIGN has helped bring together the Care in Construction programme. This is about far more than employment – it is about creating genuine opportunities for care-experienced young people to build confidence, develop valuable skills and achieve long-term independence. Too many young people leave care without the support networks that many of us take for granted. By working together with industry partners, we are opening doors into meaningful careers, giving young people the chance to realise their potential and build sustainable futures. Every young person deserves the opportunity to be seen, believed in and given a pathway to succeed. Care in Construction is proof that when charities, employers and communities collaborate, we can create lasting change and help transform lives.”

Kyian, a learner on a Marlborough skills course, said: “People like me who’ve been in care should be confident in what they have, what they can do. Everyone is different but we can take the opportunities courses like this give us -  we can rise up from where we’ve come from and do well from it. Marlborough’s shown me that I can do so much and I’m learning all the time. I’m so happy I got this opportunity, without it, I don’t know what I’d be doing, but now I’m looking forward to building up my future.”

Leighton, also on a Marlborough course, said: “I wasn’t a fan of school, and couldn’t sit still in a classroom, but I’ve wanted to be in construction since I was a kid as I like manual work and being outside. My carer got me an interview with Marlborough, and then I was in maths when I was told I’d got on the course! Now that the course is over, I’m looking forward to going higher up in the industry, maybe a site manager one day! Bad days can only be bad days if you let them happen to you – I want people who’ve been in care to stay away from bad decisions, find out what they want to do, ask around – that’s what I did – so many people can support you and I’m getting to learn so much which will help me in the future.”

Jenny McLaughlin, Principal Project Manager at Heathrow, said: “Care in Construction is about more than creating careers; it's about creating confidence, purpose and opportunity for people who might otherwise be left behind. This type of cross industry collaboration demonstrates that construction can be a place where everyone has the chance to thrive.”

Lyndsey Gallagher, Group CEO at Gallagher Group Ltd, said: "We are proud to be working alongside the Kent Skills Hub, Care in Construction, FATIMA'S UK CAMPAIGN and Places for London on a programme that has the power to change lives. The construction industry offers fantastic career opportunities, and by working together we can help care-experienced young people develop confidence, gain practical skills, and build rewarding, long-term careers. This partnership demonstrates what can be achieved when education, industry, public sector organisations and charities unite with a shared purpose—to create brighter futures and ensure every young person has the opportunity to succeed.”

Nula Krawczynski, Social Value Manager at Marlborough, said: “At Marlborough, we’re committed to creating opportunities for young people to develop their skills and build rewarding careers in our industry. The three-week Introduction to Highways programme, delivered in partnership with The Skills Centre, is a great example of how we’re supporting young care leavers as they take their first steps into employment.”

Russell Winnard, Chief Executive Officer at Drive Forward, said: “Care experienced young people face a multitude of barriers to entering employment. Care in Construction provides an important practical pathway of essential skills development, experience, and qualifications needed to successfully navigate these barriers and access employment in an exciting and sustainable sector.

Sarah Thomas, Chief Executive at The Fostering Network, said: “Supporting employers to understand foster care and the needs of care experienced children is a core part of our work at The Fostering Network, delivered through our Fostering Friendly Employers scheme. Care experienced young people face significantly more challenges than their peers on their journey to securing a successful career. We are proud to support the Care in Construction programme and know it will have a powerful impact on the young people who step into their future career through this path.”

Jon Howlin, Chief Executive Officer, The Skills Centre, said: "Having seen first-hand both the challenges and the potential of care-experienced young people through my own family's fostering journey, I know how important it is that we create meaningful opportunities. Every young person deserves the chance to build a positive future, and this programme is about turning that belief into action."

Jean Stevens Duprez MBE FCIOB, Project Director and Independent Board Member and Chair of The Skills Centre, said: "We know that talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn't always equal. Care in Construction has been designed to bridge that gap by connecting motivated young people with employers who are committed to developing the workforce of the future. 

Care leavers aged between 18 and 25 and who live in London can apply for half price bus and tram travel, helping to support those who have left care once they turn 18 by allowing them to be able to travel more affordably while they transition into independent living. The Concession is part of the Pan-London Care Leavers’ Compact: a common core offer of support designed with care-experienced young people and agreed by the Mayor, TfL, London boroughs and London’s health services.

For more information about Places for London’s skills work, visit www.placesforlondon.co.uk/skills-academy