Futures Housing Group is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week! We're proud to work with Access Training to offer apprenticeships across our business, from our repairs team to our home choices department. Apprenticeships offer us a chance to invest in developing team members with the skills we need to support our customers and keep our organisation running while providing opportunities for people to start a new career, learn new skills and achieve a qualification.
“At Futures, we don’t just provide homes for people, however crucial that is. We also give people the chance to find out what they want to do in life, and offer on-the-job learning opportunities to help develop skills and build careers. Working closely with Access Training allows us to offer more apprenticeships and therefore not only give people safe, high-quality and affordable homes, but also to find secure, meaningful and enjoyable careers.”
Ceri Theobald, Group Director of Strategic Partnerships & Growth at Futures Housing Group, and board member of Access Training.
This National Apprenticeship Week we're introducing you to some of our team members, so they can tell you what makes apprenticeships great.
Emily is part of Futures’ repairs team looking after Futures’ properties providing gas, electrical and general property maintenance repairs.
Last August, she successfully passed her Level 3 domestic plumbing and heating NVQ diploma. She has since gone on to pass her BPEC qualification and become a gas safety registered engineer. Emily is now a full-time team member at Futures, taking on her own appointments with her own van, managing her workload, and even training up new apprentices.
Emily is a woman helping to break the mould and make people think differently about construction. A benefit for Futures is that they can now offer appointments for customers who would prefer a female operative to attend. They also find it easier to attract female apprentices into the team. Emily was worried at first about being a woman working in a traditionally male environment, but now feels right at home.
“I was worried customers might think I wasn’t good enough to do gas, heating and plumbing work, but they’ve all been really nice and I’ve had no problems. Sometimes you need prove your worth, try a little harder initially, but everyone is lovely and has really encouraged me.”
