YOUNG BUILDER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
2016 WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Chloe MacDonald was chosen as the winner of the 14 to 18 year old age category and Chidi Nnebe as the winner of the 18 to 24 year old category
The 2016 Winners pictured with Youthbuild UK President, Baroness Smith of Basildon
The 17th Young Builder of the Year Awards celebrate the achievements of young people, who despite having to overcome a range of barriers have succeeded in training for and or gaining employment in the construction industry. The winners were announced at the Awards Ceremony, held at the House of Commons, on Wednesday 19th October 2016.
The 2016 Finalists, pictured on the House of Commons Terrace
The Awards were presented by Lord Bird of Nottinghill (John Bird, founder of the Big Issue) who gave a highly entertaining and informative address, stating that he transformed himself “from being part of the problem of society into being part of the solution” and that he couldn’t believe that he was now a member of the House of Lords!
14 to 18 year olds still in education or training (including apprentices)
Winner – Chloe MacDonald – Action for Children and Baxter & Gillespie, Glasgow
Runner Up – Marc Lambert – Action for Children and Carter Ceilings, Glasgow
Commended – Jack Metcalfe – Farnborough College and Barratt Homes, Aldershot and Harry Knox – Barnardo’s – The Hub, London
Commended – Luke Wilson – Action for Children and DV McColl, Glasgow and Sophie Tomkins – St Edmond’s Society, Norwich
Nicole Kirk of Action for Children, Glasgow, received a special award to support their ongoing work in giving opportunities to disaffected/disadvantaged young people to train for the construction industry, including this years 14 to 18 year old category winner Chloe MacDonald, runner up Marc Lambert and finalist Luke Wilson.
18 to 24 year olds in employment or training
Winner – Chidi Nnebe – Durkan, London
Runner Up – Jennifer Danaher – Balfour Beatty, London
Highly Commended – James Eastham – Eric Wright Construction, Preston
Highly Commended – Justin Phillips – Morgan Sindall, Suffolk
Highly Commended – Pablo Morgan – Notting Hill Housing CTI, London
Commended – Billy Welch – Costain, London and Alex Zacharewicz – Cyfle Building Skills, South West Wales
Commended – Charlie Walsh -Hobson & Porter, Hull and Daniel Stonebridge – Notting Hill Housing CTI, London
Commended – Gary McGeown – JW Joinery, Scarborough and Jordan Ball – Construction Design Centre, Sheffield
Commended – Kamila Laton – Balfour Beatty, London and Sam Jones – Coleman & Co, Birmingham
Commended – Walid Durani – Farnborough College, Aldershot and Thomas Barber – Kier, Rickmansworth
Youthbuild UK President, Baroness Smith of Basildon, welcomed the guests at the 2016 Awards Ceromony, attended by over 140 people, including politicians, senior figures from the construction industry, colleges, training organisations, finalists and their families.
Rebecca Russell, the Runner Up of the 2015 Young Builder of the Year Awards told the assembled guests how her success last year had given her the confidence to set and achieve goals in her career.
Many thanks to our sponsors, who addressed the audience before presenting prizes: –
Nicola Sinclair of B&CE Charitable Trust and Neil Carroll of Toolstation
Adam Crossley of Skanska, Ian Davis of NHBC and Alasdair Reisner of CECA
The 2016 Finalists ended their day with a trip on the London Eye, sponsored by CECA.
Many thanks to all the applicants and their supporting organisations / employers.
Once again we have an excellent panel of Judges made up of senior figures from the construction industry, for information about them, please go to the 2016 Judges page.
The 2016 Young Builder of the Year Awards are sponsored by NHBC, Skanska, Toolstation, B&CE Charitable Trust and CECA, please see Sponsors page.