The project took place in Oxford at the £65m New Bodleian Library project at University of Oxford.

The Trust’s Budding Brunels programme is a schools engagement programme aimed at students from diverse backgrounds or schools with a high percentage of students on free school meals. It aims to inform and inspire them about professional opportunities available in the construction industry. The programme brings together students with industry ambassadors to help them learn more about the built environment and the array of career paths and opportunities available to them...

Budding Brunels is an Open College Network accredited schools engagement programme designed to inform and inspire students about higher education and career options within the built environment and aiming to broaden diversity within the sector.

The award from The Royal Academy of Engineering is for the public promotion of engineering and is normally awarded to an individual, small team or project based in the UK that has supported the Academy's aims and work through their initiative in promoting engineering to the public.

The award was named in honour of the late Sir...

The programme’s aim is to develop industry awareness and employability skills for local young people, creating opportunities to feed into Network Rail’s apprenticeship and graduate schemes. Through working in a wide range of communities, including schools with a higher than national average percentage of students eligible for Free School Meals, and girls schools, they will also help to inspire a more diverse workforce.

The programme is based on our existing initiative, Budding Brunels which is an Open College Network accredited schools engagement programme designed to...

This month we are shining a spotlight on VINCI Construction UK, a dedicated supporter of the Trust and our Budding Brunels programme in particular We have a very successful working relationship with VINCI which has allowed us to run consistently well-planned and delivered programmes for our students. Not only does VINCI provide financial support to the programmes but their employees volunteer their time to share their experiences of the construction industry, take them on site visits, and hold interviews for work placements.

Through the Budding Brunels programmes with VINCI, our...

Christine Townley discusses the transferable skills construction can offer and how we need to spread this news to young people. Like the Civil Engineer he is by training, the new Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini knows that solid constructions need steel.

As I watched Pellegrini's new Manchester City recruits deliver a demolition job on Newcastle at the Etihad last week, I began to think about the lessons we can draw from his varied career.

Having studied Civil Engineering at university, Pellegrini embarked on a successful playing career, playing 28 times for...

The Trust has recently worked with Bam Nuttall, Balfour Beatty, Atkins, PRP Environmental, John Rowan and Partners and Schneider Electric to deliver a very unique Budding Brunels course funded by CITB at the Olympic Park.

31 students from Newham College, Barking and Dagenham College and Charter School took part in the project which was centred around the regeneration, sustainability and legacy of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. During the 3-day project, students were introduced to leading industry professionals from the partner construction companies, and 10 students were offered...

London South Bank University (LSBU) is working with us in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to help the Trust gain a better understanding of the impacts and outcomes of our work.

The aim of the partnership between the Trust and LSBU, one of London’s oldest and largest Universities, is to expand our activities regionally and nationally by developing Social Return on Investment (SROI) activities to increase funding and the number of young participants who we work with. This partnership received financial support from the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme (KTP). KTP...

Executive Director Christine Townley questions whether we are giving young people fair access to higher education

The recent report by the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission on access to Higher Education tells a sorry story about the number of state school pupils getting into the Russell group universities. Despite having the same qualifications as their public school peers state school children do not get the same numbers of places offered to them. Sadly although there has been an increase in admissions to those Universities as a whole in the last ten years more places...

Network Rail and Construction Youth Trust team-up to offer Birmingham students a career boost.

Construction Youth Trust in partnership with Network Rail, have provided an un-paralleled insight into the redevelopment project at Birmingham’s New Street Station. Thirty students from local schools had the opportunity to take part in a three-day Open College Network accredited Budding Brunels course which saw over 36 volunteers from Network Rail providing information, advice and guidance to students during the project and in post project work placements.

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4 A-level students from Westminster, Greenwich and Waltham Forest completed a three-day Open College Network accredited Budding Brunels course in November.

The project, centered around the extension to the Tate Modern museum, was funded by Construction Skills and supported by international consultancy and construction company Mace, and their client the Tate. The course introduced students to leading industry professionals from Mace (construction managers), Herzog and de Meuron (architects), Ramboll (structural engineers), Max Fordham (services engineers) and Davis Langdon (cost...