Following on from the exciting news of our contract win with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Anna West, our Director of Talent & Relationships and Rosie Hughes, Business Development Manager, were keen to visit the work that we are carrying out in the community.
We are transforming empty properties for the homeless
First stop, was to visit Holly Grange Care Home, where our voids team are refurbishing a number of empty properties to provide emergency accommodation for the homeless throughout the winter months. To date we have fully refurbished 24 flats ready for occupancy and it was so good to see how vulnerable people in the area will be given a clean, safe and warm place to live.
We’ve adopted a school
Anna and Rosie’s next visit was to Holly Lodge High School, our nominated school for the next four years as part of our social value commitments and in partnership with Sandwell’s Adopt A School Programme. This is a fantastic initiative which helps to support and benefit young adults as they prepare to leave school and think about their future careers. During the visit, Anna and Rosie met with Key Stage 5 Director, Kelly Dunn, who gave a tour of their wonderful school, met with some of the teachers and students, and were treated to a delicious school dinner.
Through the Adopt a School Programme, MCP will help students of Holly Lodge High School learn about the opportunities and skills needed to work in repairs and maintenance. We will not only give them advice about the types of careers and qualifications available, but we will also offer them hands-on work experience, set up mock interviews to build their confidence, and guide them through the apprenticeship process and benefits.
Helping young people into the workplace
MCP has always been proactive when it comes to reaching and teaching young people about careers in repairs and maintenance. We’ve worked with dozens of schools; setting up workshops, giving talks, and offering work experience and apprenticeships.
Opportunity Award
Holly Lodge High School is a College of Science that focuses on Ambition, Opportunity and Community – values that align perfectly with our own. In addition to supporting students throughout the next four years, MCP has also sponsored the school’s annual ‘Opportunity Award’.
The awards ceremony took place on 12th December 2022 and was deservedly won by an inspiring young lady called Tanya Sharma. When Tanya arrived at the school she spoke Italian and Punjabi and taking her A Levels in her third language, she absolutely smashed them!
Kelly told us “Tanya is the kindest young lady ever with staff and peers and is also an alumni mentor for the sixth form and lower school. During the Covid Pandemic Tanya nearly lost her mum but she continued with her studies despite her mum being on a ventilator, and when she returned home Tanya cared for her and continued to study.”
Tanya really does deserve this year’s award and we hope that she will enjoy the Amazon gift vouchers that she won.
Getting our hands dirty!
When it comes to community work, we love getting our hands dirty, which is just as well because our team will be back out in the Smethwick community in the New Year to begin work on a new community allotment project.
For updates on all of our community projects, simply bookmark our website or follow us on Linked In.
