ILFORD SPORTS CENTRE RENOVATION MARKS 100TH COMMUNITY PROJECT FOR WICKES AND VIY
Wickes and VIY announce new three year partnership, building on a successful five year relationship that has enabled 1,800 young people to learn trade skills and gain vocational qualifications
23 September, 2016 – Today, Wickes celebrates its 100th community partnership project with VIY (Volunteer It Yourself) and announces it will fund a new three year partnership that will be larger in scale and reach; pledging to support a further 100 community projects over the next 12 months. Throughout the partnership Wickes will continue to provide tools and materials for each project, together with outreaching to local trade customers and colleagues for project support.
VIY is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company which combines volunteering and DIY, providing young people aged 14-24 with the opportunity learn trade skills such as carpentry, plumbing and painting and decorating. Through fixing community buildings young people can earn a vocational City & Guilds qualification, access further training and work opportunities including placements and apprenticeships. To date, over 1,800 young people have gained accreditation through the 100 Wickes and VIY projects.
This is significant in a time when 627,000 young people are unemployed1 and there is a national shortage of tradespeople2. With this in mind, Wickes has confirmed that VIY volunteers applying for roles at the retailer, will be guaranteed an interview. Furthermore the brand, with the support of VIY, will be leading talks in local schools by giving hints and tips on writing CV’s, interview techniques and insight into working within a retail company.
Ilford Sports Centre Renovation
The renovation of Ilford Sports Club, run by the first champion of ITV’s Gladiators Weininger Irvin, is an important project for those who use the space. Wickes, VIY and young people from the community have been busy renovating a number of areas of the club, work involved re-painting, re-shelving and replacing carpet and flooring and creating extra storage space. The female changing rooms which were being used for storage have now been renovated, this means the club has the right facilities for a local a women’s football team to use.
The 100th community project event showcased over 30 young people from across the borough including Mayfield School, Isaac Newton Academy and Westminster Kingsway College coming together at Ilford Sports Club to highlight a variety of skills that the scheme provides young people the opportunity to work on. Event attendees included Wickes Managing Director Simon King and HR Director Fraser Longden, Mike Gapes, Ilford South MP, Wes Streeting, Ilford North MP and Cllr Gurdial Bhamra, Mayor of Redbridge.
Simon King, Managing Director, Wickes said: “We’re really excited to be working with VIY, young people learning trades skills while renovating community buildings is a brilliant idea! What’s great about working with VIY is that our trade customers and store colleagues up and down the country can get involved in projects. VIY brings communities together and enables trade expertise to be shared with young people, this is key as we’ve seen a skills gap and shortage of tradespeople over recent years.
That said, we’re not just involved in the physical work or just providing everything needed to complete a project, we’re getting in front of young people, giving them best-practice advice on CV’s, interview techniques and a little insight into what it’s like working for company. Through this partnership we’re increasing each and every young person's employability with experience, plus they get an accreditation with the VIY mentorship, that’s something we can all be proud off.”
Tim Reading, Director, VIY comments: “We’re so pleased to have reached our 100th partnership project milestone and to be able to mark it at Ilford Sports Club. It plays such a key role in the local community and, with the help of Wickes and other VIY partners and supporters City & Guilds, RM Training and Ideal Handyman, it's tremendous to see young people developing new skills at the same time as helping to improve the building and safeguard the club's future."
Weininger Irwin, Manager, Ilford Sports Club said: “The transformation of our sports club with the help of Wickes and VIY will be appreciated by all of our members. We have very little government funding and this was a task we were unable to do on our own so we’re thrilled that the work has been undertaken by the young people of our local community.
“The results are fantastic and I hope the club will become fully functional for the whole community to use and provide facilities for the young people of Ilford to learn all sorts of sports – hopefully the club will produce a future Olympian so watch this space!”
For more information about how you can get involved with Wickes and VIY projects or if there’s a community building that you think could do with some renovation help, please visit: http://www.volunteerityourself.org/
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1627,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed in December-February 2016.
http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05871/SN05871.pdf
http://www.fmb.org.uk/about-the-fmb/newsroom/two-thirds-of-uk-building-companies-turn-down-work/
For further information, please contact:
Press line: 0844 875 1491
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Website: http://www.wickes.co.uk/
About Wickes
Wickes has more than 235 stores nationwide including 14 Kitchen and Bathroom standalones and is the trusted name in home improvement and the building trade. Catering for everyone from first time DIYers to skilled tradesmen, Wickes is dedicated to bringing better value by providing quality materials and equipment for DIY or trade use.
Wickes’ one hour Click & Collect service allows people to order a comprehensive selection of products online and then collect from their local store in just one hour. Wickes offers a choice of more than 13,000 inspirational home improvement products including stunning kitchen and bathroom ranges, as well as lighting, wallpaper, tiles, flooring and power tools and more than 150 stunning colours of paint to produce a flawless finish on walls, wood and masonry.
For more information, please visit: www.wickes.co.uk
About VIY
VIY is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company that combines volunteering and DIY. Wickes has been involved since the very first VIY project in south London five years ago, and now the programme has spread to 100 sites supported by multiple Wickes stores across England and Wales. VIY enables young people aged 14-24 to help fix and repair youth clubs and other community buildings whilst developing new vocational skills and gaining a City & Guilds qualification in the process. Wickes stores provide a proportion of free materials in support of local VIY projects, mobilise trade customers and staff as skills mentors for young people, and also provide work experience and employment opportunities for VIY 'graduates'. For more information visit www.volunteerityourself.org
About Ilford Sports Club
Ilford Sports Club (ISC) makes sport and the community its total focus. ISC is situated in South Ilford and aims to provide affordable sporting and recreational facilities for the local community and a venue for various events and functions. ISC particularly encourage use of our facilities by youths, minority groups and disabled users. ISC is a sporting organisation operating on the boundary of two of the more deprived local government wards in the county. The pavilion building opened in December 2002, following many years of planning with financial assistance from Sport England, the Jack Petchey Foundation and many local sponsors, including the London Borough of Redbridge. ISC is home to Iford AC, Ilford FC, Barkingside FC, L&E & JFI Karate Clubs and WRS Resistance Sliding Academy.
ISC managers are Janice Irwin European, World Karate Champion and Weininger Irwin ITV's Television 1st Gladiator Champion.