As part of our social impact strategy, we partner with the National House Project (NHP) to help young people leaving care access career pathways in construction, engineering and manufacturing. This includes practical support with training costs, essential equipment and employability opportunities.
Leaving care can mean stepping into adulthood without the family safety net many people rely on. That can make it harder to secure stable housing, education, and employment, especially during the critical early years of independence.
of care‑experienced children in England had never been in employment or education in the eight years after leaving school (compared to 4% among all school leavers).
young care leavers aged 18-20 were facing homelessness in 2024, with a 54% increase in five years (as referenced in government homelessness statistics).
of care leavers aged 19-21 are not in education, employment or training (NEET), compared to 13% of all 19-21-year-olds.
Our social impact strategy is rooted in a simple purpose: to improve people’s quality of life by providing shelter, and to take meaningful action to help prevent homelessness and support people at risk, including care leavers.
We provide bursary funding to help care‑experienced young people access a wide range of construction careers, including routes such as plumbing and bricklaying, and remove practical barriers to starting work or training.
What the bursary can cover:
Salman, aged 21 from Manchester, has benefitted from the fund: “My dream is to own my own electrical company one day and so far, I have been working towards this by completing a course in college… I currently support myself and my course fees by working part-time for an electrical company. While this helps, I still have to carefully manage my finances to cover everything. At times, I’ve had to use some of my benefits to contribute toward my fees, which can leave me short for essentials like food and rent. However, I’m committed to completing my training and gaining the qualifications I need to advance in my career”.
To broaden awareness of career options beyond traditional routes, we ran an “Insight into Engineering” Day in October 2025 in partnership with MAKE UK at its technology centre in Birmingham.
Young people explored engineering roles across the product lifecycle, toured the centre, took part in hands‑on activities, and learned about wienerberger’s engineering apprenticeship pathway.
We’ve also delivered the pilot of Trades of Tomorrow, a three‑day programme designed to help care‑experienced young people explore construction careers while responding to the industry’s long‑term skills challenge.
Delivered in partnership with the National House Project and the Greater Manchester Youth Network, the programme provided practical, real‑world insight to build confidence and demystify routes into construction sector employment, training and further education.
What participants did:
“Working in partnership with an employer like wienerberger ensures the programme is grounded in real industry experience and opens doors that might otherwise feel out of reach. We’re excited to continue growing the programme to support care‑experienced young people to build sustainable, skilled careers in the construction sector.”
Kat Luckock, Director of Partnerships at The National House Project.
If you’re interested in collaborating with us on social impact, whether you’re a partner organisation, employer, educator or community group, please get in touch.
