Kickstarting careers at VIY

We’re delighted to see Jada Sandy and Konradas Rukas, two of our first participants from the Kickstart scheme, the six month placement funded by the government designed to reduce youth unemployment following the Covid-19 pandemic, progress into roles following their time working as Junior Skills Mentors with VIY.

Jada will be joining VIY as a Peer Mentor, furthering her ambitions to run her own female-led trades business. Having mentored and worked alongside Jada on all of the projects she’s supported across the South/London, our Head Mentor, Alan Dalton, is full of praise for Jada: “A little bit of inspiration is what Jada gives me each time I work with her. She is exactly the reason I do this job. It makes my job worthwhile. She is what every site needs.”

Meanwhile Konradas is following his calling as a plumber, graduating onto an apprenticeship with Woodford Heating & Energy, an opportunity he’s been seeking since finishing college. On departing VIY at the end of February, Konrad said “I’ve had fun at VIY and have enjoyed learning new things/skills and meeting new people.”

Both Jada and Konradas have consistently impressed all of our Lead Mentors across the projects they have worked on during their six months with us, including the Dublin Castle in Camden, Wembdon Village Hall in Bridgwater, Kent Phoenix American Football Club and YMCA Dickerage.

We’re so pleased both of them are continuing to develop their skills and pursue careers in the trade. Our thanks to Travis Perkins Plc for acting as our Gateway Provider for the Kickstart scheme, enabling VIY to help young people benefit from this experience and further our mission to support young people into the trade, to help build a future pipeline for construction and ensure the next generation are not left behind following the pandemic.

The next cohort of Kickstarters will be joining VIY in the coming weeks. Make sure you’re following our social channels where we’ll introduce them!