The plumbing apprentices who work for energy and regeneration specialist ENGIE were highly commended for their community project created on behalf of Cranhill Development Trust – a charity which provides responsive support services with the purpose of community development and regeneration to enhance the lives of people using their service.  

The team chose to repurpose an area of derelict land to create a low maintenance and eco-friendly garden for the Trust who are based in Bellrock Street, Cranhill where ENGIE is currently constructing 53 new homes for rent for Glasgow Housing Association.

The apprentices attended Glasgow Chamber of Commerce in early November to present an overview of their project to the Apprenticeship Challenge judging panel. The judges highly commended the team for their efforts and engagement with the community and awarded them third place.

As part of the project, the apprentices laid paving and refurbished raised beds and plots for the growing of vegetables and other foods, increasing production of natural organic produce that will be sold in the Trust’s community shop.

Subcontractors, including Dulux, CMI, CTM, Elliot, and Emtec contributed to the project by donating large volumes of stock and materials such as a large container for storage, lightweight framing for water harvesting, scaffolding and stairs and stone chips for paving all to make areas as communal and accessible as possible indeed. As an additional goodwill gesture and with the help of subcontractor Advance Construction, ENGIE was able to arrange for the access car park to the Cranhill Development Trust to be fully resurfaced to further enhance access to the facility by the local community. 

The project, which started in August and completed in November, included the creation of a water harvesting system to service the garden. The team incorporated the use of a manual pump to increase the velocity of the flow of water when watering the raised beds as opposed to a gravity supply. They connected guttering to the edge of the container to catch the rainwater and transport it into a collection tank which will hold a volume of water that will be used by the community garden to water the raised beds.

Brian Pettigrew, regional managing director for ENGIE, said: “The Developing Young Workforce Apprenticeship Challenge has been a brilliant opportunity for our apprentices to put their plumbing skills they have gained throughout their apprenticeship into practice, as well as additional skills they may not have had the opportunity to develop had they not taken part in the challenge.

“Their chosen project enabled them to give back to the local community whilst engaging and working with Cranhill Development Trust service users. We are extremely proud of our apprentices and their efforts throughout this project.”

The team completed the work with the help of the Police Initiative Scheme which works with young youths who are disengaged from the community. Following their participation in the challenge, users of the Police Initiative Scheme have since enrolled into college and three have returned to school.

The Cranhill Development Trust also noticed a decrease in vandalism around the grounds and garden and the level of anti-social behaviour in the area seems to have decreased.