Female plumber offers a teenage fix for Tunbridge Wells homes

Published by Gary Bolton for Connaught Plc in Housing and also in Education

A young Tunbridge Wells woman is being given the chance to pursue her dream career thanks to the partnership bringing repairs and improvements to properties in the area.

Lilly Godley-Miller, 18, of Tunbridge Wells, has secured a role as an apprentice plumber with Connaught Partnerships Ltd working on reactive repairs to Town and Country Housing Group properties.

Lilly commenced her dream job on August 16^th after first considering plumbing as a career when finishing secondary school. She explains: “I’ve always been a very ‘hands-on’ person and at school I really enjoyed woodwork in which I got to make a bird house, football table and for my final project a rabbit hutch that I sold for £50! We have a lot of tradespeople in our family, such as my dad who is a bricklayer also uncles and cousins who are carpenters, painter and decorators, electricians and roofers, but no plumbers so I thought I’d have a go at that.”

Upon making this decision Lilly enrolled on a City and Guilds Level 2 plumbing course at West Kent College. She said: “I absolutely loved it straight away despite being the only young girl on the course who regularly attended. It was a bit intimidating at first and I certainly got some stick from the lads but I soon realised they were just jealous of the fact that I was better than they were!”

After successfully completing the course and a separate A-level in the Construction, Lilly weighed up her options before applying for an apprenticeship with Connaught working on reactive repairs and voids in partnership with Town & Country Housing Group. An interview with Connaught soon followed before a telephone call confirmed that she had been successful. Lilly said: “I was absolutely over the moon to find out I had the apprentice plumber role as I know how difficult it is to get work at the moment, especially for someone with so little experience. It was a bit daunting at first but after spending my first morning receiving training on how to provide the best customer service when working in tenanted properties I was straight away shadowing an experienced Connaught plumber, so there was no time to be nervous.

“From the first day I was working on fitting new cisterns, kitchens and toilets in tenanted properties and although it’s a totally different ball game to what I was doing at college, it is definitely good to put into practice what I learned. There is lots of pressure to produce exceptional work but that is understandable as it is someone else’s home you are working in and they obviously want it to look nice.

“As a local girl I know what it means to people living in the area to have their homes improved and it is so satisfying to be part of the process. The reaction from tenants when I turn up at their homes is great, especially from the older generation. They know to expect a plumber at a certain time so it can be a bit of a shock when I turn up but after the initial surprise they seem to really like that there is a young, local woman doing the work.”

Russell Folk, Connaught project manager, said: “Connaught is committed to leaving a lasting legacy while working in partnership with Town and Country Housing Group and we are delighted to be able to offer a young, local woman with the opportunity to gain career development and training and that will last a lifetime.

“Lilly has only been with us for a short while but she has already brought tremendous enthusiasm to the team. Her work has been excellent and her friendly approach has certainly been a big hit with local tenants so I have no doubts that if she carries on in this manner she can look forward to a very successful career.”

Lilly is fully aware that some people are surprised to see a young girl so keen to commence a career in plumbing and that undoubtedly brings some challenges. “I always wanted to pursue a hands-on career and there have been a few comments from people along the way but that has just made me even more determined to succeed. I would definitely recommend it to someone else considering a similar career and I honestly love every minute of it, well apart from my supervisor’s jokes as they really are awful!

“In all seriousness there isn’t anything I don’t like about the job. When I leave and go home I actually look forward to coming into work the next day and I love to see something I have physically produced at the end of the job. The rest of my family also love the fact that I have become a plumber and between us we could now pretty much build a house!”

Town & Country Housing Group provides more than 8,000 affordable homes in Kent, Sussex, Surrey and South London. The partnership with Connaught Partnerships Ltd delivers reactive repairs and voids works to properties across Kent.