Here's an idea

When wates won a contract to modernise some of Coventry council's housing stock, we teamed up with Lovell and the Whitefriars Training and Development Agency to give 12 youngsters an apprenticeship.

We interviewed boys put forward by local schools to fill the scheme, targeting the more disadvantaged areas of the city because youngsters from these areas find it more difficult to get construction qualifications.

In total there are 12 lads on the scheme, who range in age from 16 to 18. They are all from nearby areas because if we can get someone local it's better – they don't have tospend lots of money and time getting to work.

They work closely with carpenters and learn all the skills of the trade. As well as the practical experience, they are all working towards NVQs in building maintenance. They spend four days a week on site and go to a training centre one day a week. As they finish their traineeships we will take on more each year.

It's really important to have things like this because there is an increasing demand for multiskilled staff from contractors in the refurbishment market and things like this can help provide young people with an insight into the building profession.

We are scheduled to be working on various projects for the next five years and this provides a reasonable length of time for the boys to learn the trade.

It also helps to ensure that there is a core of skilled workers in the local community for future projects.