Two work experience candidates at a Mi-space building project in Cwmbran so impressed their managers that they are now in paid full time employment.

Mi-space – a division of The Midas Group, one of the largest independent construction companies in the UK, is carrying out a £500,000 refurbishment scheme for Bron Afon Community Housing, which owns 8,000 affordable homes in the Torfaen area of Wales.

Mi-space won the contract to install external wall insulation to 10 blocks of flats in Cwmbran thanks to its extensive experience in this specialist work, and their proven track record for working on homes whilst they are being lived in causing minimal disruption for residents.

As part of its ongoing commitment to supporting the communities it works within, Mi-space offered two work experience positions to local people, and in May 2014, Joe Cappell and Jamie Dixon joined the site team on placements.

The work experience posts were arranged through Bron Afon’s Investment and Inclusion ‘Connect and Create’ employability team, which aims to support tenants who may be facing barriers to work, and helps provide the skills and training they need to find new job opportunities.

Bron Afon, in partnership with Communities First, WEA, Careers Wales, Bridges into Work and Job Centre Plus, supported Joe and Jamie through the bite size employability programme, Trade That Works, to gain the CSCS (Construction Skills Certificate Scheme) qualification. They also arranged training on manual handling, working from heights, asbestos awareness and safety in the workplace.

The Mi-space team then built upon the skills Joe and Jamie had gained through the employment programme by providing the pair with practical work skills live on site.

Joe and Jamie both impressed the Mi-space team with their dedication and hard work to such an extent that in June, both were offered full-time jobs as trainee operatives.

Paul Leighton, Mi-space senior site manager at the project, said: “Both Joe and Jamie have shown a great deal of enthusiasm and a willingness to work; they both show initiative and are prepared to listen and learn from the various trades on site.

“This just goes to show that through commitment to delivering social value, contractors and clients can make a positive impact to the communities that they work in.”

The jobs created within Torfaen Communities are just one of the numerous initiatives being undertaken by the Mi-space team to support the tenants of Bron Afon and the wider community throughout the period of the project.

Mi-space staff are also helping to back the housing provider’s Investment and Inclusion ‘Connect and Create’ team by providing mock interview trials for people out of work, taking part in school visits, running a mentoring programme, and keeping the Bron Afon team informed of any job vacancies arising throughout the local supply chain.