Suffolk school pupils try their hand at roofing

In the coming months youngsters aged 16 from local high schools will be able to participate in roofing taster sessions on the practice rigs of the Eastern Region Roof Training Group centre, based in Baylham, north of Ipswich.

Previous such visits by pupils from Northgate High School; Holbrook Academy; Claydon High School; Stoke High School; Chantry Academy and Parkside Academy have proved popular, carrying out tasks like measuring, and installing felt, as well as laying tiles and slates.

The idea is to give students about to leave school the chance to gain an insight into what work is like as a roofer, something they usually would not have the chance to experience.

The Eastern Region Roof Training Group (External link - Opens in a new tab or window) represents 150 roofing contractors throughout East Anglia, and successfully applied for the funds from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), a non-governmental public body sponsored by the Department for Education,  to help attract a new generation of roofers as well as training group members in site safety management and supervision.

A spokesperson for the Eastern Region Roof Training Group said: “We are very grateful for the funding which will allow us to encourage a new generation of young roofers! This is a fantastic opportunity for us to reach out to more schools in the area and really engage with young people at a crucial time in their decision making for their future.”

Andy Barron, CITB Partnerships Manager, said: “We’re delighted to be supporting small and medium sized businesses across Suffolk – with homebuilding accelerating, we need to attract more domestic talent to the construction industry, which is why it’s so important to show young people the career opportunities involved and train existing practitioners in new skills.”

CITB supports 88 such training groups across England, Scotland and Wales with more than £5million of funding.

For more information, please email info@eastern.rooftraining.co.uk or call 01473 744412.