Bradford students bring a splash of colour to home improvements

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

Students at a Bradford college have unleashed their hidden super powers to help make a colourful contribution to a scheme delivering improvements to dozens of properties in the area.

As Connaught Partnerships Ltd commenced work to deliver external improvements to properties across BD3 on behalf of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, a relationship was developed with the nearby Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College to provide students with an invaluable introduction into the world of business and enterprise.

As a result, Year 8 students participated in six connected workshops facilitated by the college and Connaught to cover aspects including developing a small business venture producing healthy smoothies from a vacant allotment, creating innovative safety messages to discourage playing on building sites and how to produce a business report showcasing the ethos of a company such as Connaught.

The culmination of the project saw five giant 8ft by 4ft, full colour display boards erected around the Connaught site office on Derby Road to display superhero style characters designed by the students to demonstrate their understanding of the ‘special powers’ required to be a success in the world of business and enterprise. Gerard Liston, Head of Enterprise Education at Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College, said: “We try to find ways of creating meaningful links with employers that have a tangible outcome and which also benefit the business and this partnership with Connaught has ticked every box.

“The students came up with some really creative responses to the 'Super hero' challenge, with some great images and descriptions. Importantly, it got them thinking about their aspirations and the skills that make them unique and to have the best work displayed in the neighbourhood is an added bonus and affirmation of the student's efforts.”

Brendon Hutchinson, Connaught operations director, said: “We feel it is essential for companies such as ourselves to invest the time and resources to engage with young people in the areas in which we work and the relationship developed with Laisterdyke Business and Enterprise College provided the perfect opportunity to do this.

“The response we had from the students was fantastic and they fully embraced the opportunity to develop their understanding of the attributes that could be beneficial in the world of business while we certainly benefitted by engaging with the community throughout the works to improve Bradford Council properties.”

Bradford Metropolitan District Council and Connaught are working in partnership to provide external improvements to properties including external boundary walls, pointing, sand blasting, rendering and installing new roofs and dormas.