Persimmon Homes has donated over 4,000 bricks to Forth Valley College to support the next generation of construction workers learning their trade at FVC Campuses.
The house builder made the donation to Forth Valley College on Friday 23 June at the College’s Falkirk Campus. Persimmon East Scotland Managing Director, Neil Parry and Regional Apprentice Manager, Ian MacPherson joined staff and students, at the college to present the materials on behalf of the house builder.
The donation will support construction students studying in Forth Valley College’s Falkirk Campus. The materials will support the college in allowing students more time on the tools whilst at college to complete skills tests and create models in the classroom.
Forth Valley College, has over 600 construction students across 57 courses and attracts students across Falkirk, Stirling, Alloa and central Scotland.
The house builder, which creates more than 1,500 new energy efficient homes across Scotland each year, make their own bricks at their state of the art factory in Doncaster which can produce over 72 million bricks per year – enough to stretch from Falkirk to San Francisco and back again.
Stuart Taylor, Curriculum Manager in the Department of STEM and Construction at Forth Valley College, said: “We can’t thank Persimmon Homes enough for the donation of these bricks and we want to assure them they will be put to good use to train our Bricklaying and Construction students, and help them become the best professional tradesmen and women possible. We hope we can build even stronger links with Persimmon Homes in the future, as they are one of the UK’s leading house builders and forging a partnership with them, will help to inspire our Modern Apprentices and Construction students even more.”
Neil Parry, Persimmon East Scotland Managing Director, said: “I’m delighted we’re able to donate these much needed materials and support the fantastic work Forth Valley College does to develop the future leaders of the construction industry.
“Persimmon are committed to creating exciting opportunities for everyone in the areas where we operate and this donation is just one example of that.”
Building Strong Foundations: Neil Parry Managing Director of Persimmon East Scotland (on the left closest to the brick work of Scotland) and Ian MacPherson Persimmon Regional Apprentice Manager (just in front of Neil wearing a tie) visited Forth Valley College’s Falkirk Campus on Friday 23 June to officially present the College’s STEM and Construction Department with more than 9,000 bricks for use by their bricklaying Modern Apprentices and other students. Welcoming them to the bricklaying workshop were Stuart Taylor FVC Curriculum Manager in STEM and Construction (to the right of Neil near the Scotland design), Bricklaying Lecturers John Denholm (checked shirt) and Colin Scott (far left blue shirt) and Cameron Anderson FVC Work Based Assessor for Bricklaying (between Stuart and Colin). Six Modern Apprentices (all in hard hats and fluorescent bibs) were also there to see the types of brick they’ll be getting their hands on soon. They are from left to right: Liam Conroy (Sean Kennedy Brickwork), James Moran (Lee Marley), Stephen Purcell (Glendeal Brickwork), Liam Watt (R&J Bertram), Nathan Kerr (Lee Marley) and Shaun O’Hare (MacGregor Building Services).