Teen bricklayer's message to unemployed young Brits as thousands urged to learn skills for the housing trade
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BRICKLAYER Brooke Knight has a message for nearly one million young Brits currently out of work: Get a skill and get a life.
The 18-year-old is no stranger to hard graft and started training in her job two years ago.
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Bricklayer Brooke Knight has a message for nearly one million young Brits currently out of work: Get a skill and get a life
Credit: Sun Newspapers Ltd
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Brooke is no stranger to hard graft and started training in her job two years ago
Credit: Sun Newspapers Ltd
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Brooke said: There are so many jobs up for grabs. It gives a skill for life, there are no college fees and you can earn thousands a week after tax'
Credit: Sun Newspapers Ltd
Since then, she has qualified and seen her salary soar. And now she is urging other young people to take her lead and lay the foundations of their own career in construction.
She said: ''There are so many jobs up for grabs. It gives a skill for life, there are no college fees and you can earn thousands a week after tax.
'For those who didn't get the A-level results they wanted — or didn't take them in the first place — construction could be a brilliant option.'
Brooke got her first job thanks to The Sun on Sunday's Builder Better Britain campaign, which we launched to highlight the need for more British workers instead of hiring migrants to do jobs.
After reading our bumper apprenticeship vacancies list, she applied for a role and started work at 16.
This week, Women and Equalities Minister Bridget Phillipson welcomed our campaign, saying a shortage of workers in the building trade is making the housing crisis worse.
'Like a big family'
And she announced ten new Construction Technical Excellence Colleges to teach homegrown talent to build the homes, schools and hospitals that Britain is crying out for.
The learning hubs will help train some of the 12.5 per cent of all 16 to 24-year-olds — around one million youngsters — known as NEETs, meaning they are not in education, employment or training.
Brooke said: 'I always wanted a practical role, but after reading your vacancies pullout, I finally had a breakthrough and was over the moon to land the job. I'm a hands-on person and the construction industry runs in my family, so I thought, 'Why not give it a go?'.
'I can't thank The Sun on Sunday enough. And I would urge others to do what I did. I think it's really important for British people to apply for the jobs out there.
I was useless at school…now I earn £10k a month at 26 & I'll buy a Lamborghini
'There are already lots of foreign workers filling positions, but why shouldn't they go to people already living here if we can train them up properly?
'On my site, we are struggling for good bricklayers. People do not want to work in this trade because they feel like they can't be bothered and it will be too much hard work.
'But it's a job. You can apply straight out of school and then keep working in until you retire. I would 100 per cent recommend it.'
Highlighting the financial benefits, Brooke added: 'As an apprentice, you start off on about £80 a day, but that can go up to £130 a day once you qualify. You could end up taking home thousands a week after tax if you play your cards right.
'Yes, there are tough days, but you learn a bit of everything, whether it's bricklaying or plumbing or insulation, and I enjoy working on site. The lads look out for me. We're like a big family, really.'
Brooke from Swindon, thrives on the variety her job brings.
She said: 'You are always moving around taking on different jobs. Plus, we build a house from the base and it's great being able to see the work in progress and, once you finish, you're like, 'Wow, I built all that'.'
Toby Gouldson won his civil engineering apprenticeship at Alan Wood And Partners in Yorkshire with help from The Sun on Sunday.
The 18-year-old, from Brough, said at the time: 'The Sun on Sunday's pullout was a massive help.
'I'm not sure I would have landed a job without it.'
The £100million in funding for the new technical colleges will train 40,000 brickies, roofers and electricians by 2029.
Revealing the plans, Bridget Phillipson said: 'If you're an out-of-work young person or someone looking for a new career, get up, get skills and get building.' Construction boss Ian Hodgkinson, from TV show DIY SOS, is angry there are so many NEETs.
He said: 'The reality is we're paying for NEETs — unemployment benefits, Universal Credit, housing support, even the knock-on costs of poor health and crime prevention.
'Don't have to be butch'
'Flip it and the same funding could be invested in practical, skills-based training that turns NEETs into productive, tax-paying tradespeople.'
Emma Hulme, 39, is so passionate about getting women into the male-dominated building industry that she gives school talks championing the trade to young girls.
She became a bricklayer in 2019 after being a physiotherapist for 14 years.
Emma, who now runs the Builder Girl firm in Northwich, Cheshire, said: 'I got divorced and I was doing up my own four-bedroom house as I got let down by trade after trade. Typical story.
'I did a few odd jobs and, from word of mouth, it got a little busy.
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Emma Hulme wants more girls to join the industry
Credit: Zenpix
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Jermaine Lucas, 17, from Hull, pictured with Nick Knowles, admits he didn't like school and quit without taking his exams
Credit: supplied
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Workers on site
Credit: Getty
'A few people started calling me 'builder girl', which I thought was pretty cool, and I handed in my notice and I haven't looked back.'
Now, the mum-of-one has a team of 25, but is still the only woman.
She said: 'It's the stereotypical thing, but ladies football has changed and I hope that when people see my van on the road, they might think, 'Oh, maybe I can do that if she does'.
"There is very good money in the building industry. If you want to have a physical job, it's fantastic. You don't have to be that stereotypical butch female builder.
'I'm a normal woman and yes, you do have to be fit, but you don't need to be all big and scary and muscly.'
Jermaine Lucas, 17, from Hull, admits he didn't like school and quit without taking his exams.
I've always wanted a practical role, but after reading your vacancies pullout, I had a breakthrough and was over the moon to land the job. I can't thank The Sun on Sunday enough
Brooke Knight
But he loves learning on the job and, since March, has been an apprentice bricklayer after taking a course at Orchard Training Education.
He said: 'I struggled at school, so they offered me the alternative of going twice a week to learn joinery and bricklaying.
'I enjoyed bricklaying and I got pretty good at it, so I thought I'd go for that. I didn't like sitting in a classroom. Doing this, I learn something new every day.
'We've just built seven houses and a bungalow, and we're about to start building another bungalow, so we're busy.
'We mainly build private houses for people who have just retired, and it's nice to think that you're not just helping them out, you're giving them a roof over their head and have built their dream home.
'I'm on £264 a week, a good wage when you're 17, and once I qualify, I could be on about £200 a day. I've had a lot of friends looking at me, because I dropped out of school, who are now desperate to work. So to anyone thinking of taking up a trade, I say go for it.
'It's 100 per cent better than sitting at home watching TV.'
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