"Just do it" says first female bricklayer apprentice in Hull
A new bricklaying training hub opened in Hull to meet industry demand.
A new bricklaying training hub, run by the National House Building Council (NHBC) has opened in Hull with the help of the city's first female level 2 qualified bricklaying apprentice.
The NHBC said there's a national skills gap in construction - particularly in bricklaying - which they're trying to close by recruiting apprentices of all ages and backgrounds.
For Alice Clay, school wasn't enjoyable, and so she turned to bricklaying as a way to enjoy working outdoors doing something more practical.
Despite going into a traditionally male-dominated environment, Alice said: "It hasn't ever really bothered me; I don't it should bother anyone. It doesn't affect what I do, I get on with everyone, everyone's nice - I think you should just do it."
For many like Alice, bricklaying is a promising career path allowing young people to get into industry at a young age, and make good money in the process.
She said: "If you're thinking about doing something like that and you don't fancy going to college or uni I think an apprenticeship is a great way forward. I'm 18, I'm qualified and I've got a full time self-employed job that I'm getting on with and that I'm progressing with."
The UK suffers from a national housing shortage, not helped by the lack of people working in construction.
Steve Wood, CEO of NHBC said: "There's far too much academic snobbery. This is a great way to have rewarding careers and people from all backgrounds can be very successful starting as a bricklayer and going to other things and you can be very successful staying as a bricklayer.
"To build the houses the country needs we need something like an increase of the construction workforce of about 225,000 people so this is making a small contribution to that."