Braidwater Group staff recently welcomed pupils from Belfast’s Blessed Trinity School to Black Ridge (Glenmona), as part of the WomensTEC #notjustforboys Programme.
Pupils from Blessed Trinity School on arrival to Black Ridge.
The pupils, who are studying GCSE Construction/Technology, received a comprehensive tour of the site, giving them a global overview of a major ‘live’ housing building project.
Based in Belfast, WomensTEC is Northern Ireland’s largest quality provider of training for women in non-traditional skills.
Black Ridge – one of the largest housing developments in Northern Ireland, is a new mixed-use urban village developed by Apex Housing Association (Apex) under the guidance of leading house-builder BW Social Affordable Housing, which is also part of the Braidwater Group.
Work first commenced at the location early in 2021 and the development will mature with over 650 social dwellings on the 75-acre site in the west of Belfast.
Pictured (L-r), representing the Braidwater Group are: Marie Ferguson, Rebecca Bradley & Shauna Moore, along with Eunice McClune, Phoenix Energy, Clodagh McCarthy, Michael Moore’s Homes and Creena Hunter, Inox Engineering.
Aisling Conway, HR Manager for the Braidwater Group, was delighted with the site visit by the Belfast school.
‘It was a fantastic opportunity to generate interest in our industry and help potential future talent gain insight into the operations of a major construction project.
‘The site tour showcased various sectors, providing the pupils with an understanding of all stages of construction. Since the group’s focus is on exploring career paths, we were delighted to offer them this valuable insight, along with the chance to interact with site personnel, particularly female staff and subcontractors.
‘This experience was an invaluable opportunity for the pupils to engage directly with women working on-site and learn about their roles.’
Maxi Panayi of WomensTEC also endorsed the value of the educational visit, especially the opportunity to hear from females onsite.
‘The students really enjoyed their day and it was fantastic to meet strong women in the industry as it was very empowering to hear their back stories. Thank you so much for inviting and hosting us!’
Pictured (L-r), after some career advice from Kyra Heron, NHBC (centre) are pupils from Blessed Trinity along with Marie Ferguson, Braidwater Group (far left), Maxi Panayi, WomensTEC (2nd from left), and Blessed Trinity teacher, Kevin Kane (far right).
Martyna Bojanowska, one of the Blessed Trinity teachers, was also complimentary about the visit, praising the location and praising the health and safety aspect.
‘Black Ridge is a fantastic location, very well managed, secure and clean. It’s also evident a lot of care and consideration has been given to health and safety.
‘The event was very well organised and informative. Our girls certainly enjoyed all the elements, especially the tour around the site. We had a clear overview of how diverse the company is and all the initiatives that were introduced to promote mental health and well-being.’