Supporting local schools

Some organisations go out of their way to have a positive impact on the wellbeing of individuals, communities and charities; this is known as adding Social Value. Helping Hands is our established Social Value Initiative, which aims to enhance and support the communities within which we work.

Our initiative aims to cover five areas of Social Value to make a real difference to our local communities. These comprise Charity, Community, Wellness, Development, and Sustainability.

The ways in which we add Social Value to our local communities are varied and we’re always open to new ideas. In recent years we’ve been involved in community club sponsorships, donating our time to charities, getting involved in community sustainability initiatives, delivering staff wellbeing support, making food bank donations, and supporting local businesses.

Providing work experience opportunities

Over the last year, we’ve been pleased to offer work experience opportunities to local school children interested in learning about the industry, discovering the potential roles within it, and understanding our business itself. Exploring all areas and divisions of Hughes and Salvidge, they were able to see the day-to-day running of our workforce, and really get to grips with what’s involved in each of the varied roles.

So far, we’ve held three of these work experience workshops, which are offered to 15 and 16-year-olds from local schools. This is a business-wide initiative, with involvement from the SHEQ (Safety, Health, Environment, Quality) team, the Business Development team, and Projects, Estimating, and Finance staff.

Showcasing their varied skill set, our in-house CAD team was an area of particular interest to the pupils. Having seen the size and scale of the projects we undertake, the idea of drawing the structures, and showing the methodologies used in successfully demolishing or decommissioning them, really engaged their minds.

Not only were the pupils able to see firsthand the level of technical expertise our CAD designers have, they were also able to appreciate the level of knowledge that is needed to translate demolition methods into their designs.

Having successfully learnt the basics, the pupils were then tasked with creating some CAD designs of their own. Ranging from designing their own houses, to showing the sequencing of works having visited a site, they were able to create some outstanding outputs.

A few words from our pupils:

“I observed the office roles and also went on different site visits where I got to see the other end of all the plans and the more physical side of demolition. It was nice being there and seeing the process from start to finish, including the demolition being executed on site.”

“I have created various 3D drawings, including kitchen interiors, demoed buildings, and benches. I was given a project to create a building and simulate it being taken down in CAD. During this process I had to learn to render, animate, and create a gif of it being demolished. I have gained valuable experience in my time with Hughes and Salvidge.”

With great work ethics and strong skill sets, we wish these pupils all the best in their chosen career paths. Who knows, we may see them back in the industry soon.

A spokesperson from the Hughes and Salvidge SHEQ team said: “We love engaging with local schools to provide an insight into what we do. As a prominent local company, young people are likely to have seen our presence in the city so having this chance to share more about what we do on a day-to-day basis has been fantastic. It has also been a great chance for us to inform young people about the various roles available in demolition, which could help in encouraging a new generation into this essential industry.”

Find out more about our Helping Hands initiative, and explore the services we provide…