18 Feb 2011

Wednesday 16 February was a momentous day for everyone at our Building Lives Training Academy, located at homeless hostel Arlington House, Camden. HRH Prince Charles paid a visit as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Ready for Work scheme run by charity Business in the Community. HRH is President of Business in the Community and helped to establish the programme in 2001. The royal visit follows the VIP launch of our Building Lives Training Academy by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and renowned artist Tracey Emin in June 2010, and a government visit from Iain Duncan Smith and Nick Clegg in November.

With our support Arlington is already helping homeless people to rebuild their lives. Building Lives is unique within the construction industry - the training is delivered and led by Lakehouse, and we ensure that successful candidates are guaranteed employment opportunities direct with Lakehouse or as part of our supply chain.

There are no other contractors currently offering this service so it's a great way for us to stand head and shoulders above our competitors. Better still, our Building Lives Training Academy has been unanimously approved by The Housing Forum's Scrutiny Panel to become a Demonstration Project, a recognised badge of honour, for demonstrating best practice.

Building Lives is helping disadvantaged people, including the homeless, to rebuild their lives and move on to brighter futures. The construction courses that we are offering are well underway, with 100% rates on all training courses.