Pimlico Plumbers is leading a major ‘Big Society’-style community project, which will see more than 40 unemployed young people repairing their 50-year-old youth centre in South London.

In partnership with DIY chain Wickes, training organisation A4e and the Co-Sponsorship Agency, Pimlico Plumbers has created the (est.) £100,000 ‘Volunteer it Yourself’ (VIY) pilot project, which will run throughout March at the Streatham Youth Centre.

‘VIY’is designed to provide training opportunities for the group of predominately disadvantaged 16-25-year-olds, many of whom have been unemployed for some time or have never been in paid work.

Pimlico Plumbers is providing a team of engineers and trades-people to mentor and support the young people, who are all members of the youth centre and will undertake the renovations.

Charlie Mullins, Managing Director of Pimlico Plumbers, said: “This project is ‘Big Society’ in action. Private businesses have come together to give young people vital work skills, which will help them gain future employment, while at the same time, restore an important community resource.

“This project will make a real difference in Streatham. It will extend the life of the youth centre and give the young people a sense of civic pride and ownership of the project.”

The VIY Project was awarded the Best Low Budget Sponsorship Campaign at the 2012 Hollis Sponsorship Awards ceremony.

21/04/2011

Pimlico’s Streatham Mentors Receive A Personal Thank-You From A4e!

Denise Leander, Operations Manager at A4e, sent a personal letter of thanks this morning to all of the Pimlico guys who mentored and supported their young people throughout the Streatham project.

She says ‘There is no doubt that without their energy, guidance and constant encouragement our young people wouldn't have progressed in quite the same way and/or had such a positive experience and insight into the world of work.’

This shows how well our guys interacted with the kids and how good they were at teaching them skills that will last them a lifetime.

21/04/2011

Documentary On VIY Is Amazing!

A three minute version of the documentary Pimlico commissioned on the Streatham Youth Centre Project is now available. Click here to view.

It shows what a great worthwhile project it is and a full version will be available later on in the year.

20/04/2011

The Streatham Youth Centre VIY Project May Be Over But The Skills Learnt Will Last A Lifetime!

Dozens of young volunteers who signed up for our Streatham VIY (Volunteer It Yourself) project were all awarded their certificates and tool kits yesterday by the Mayor's training ambassador, Tim Campbell, who was also the winner of the first BBC Apprentice show.

The place looked great at the reopening and it was obvious how well Dave Buck and the boys (Peter Buck, Richard Russell, Ashley Dilks and Gregg McGrath) interacted with their trainees. That is a huge tell tale sign that the whole thing was a success.

The guys are real pros, and to see how well they got on with the kids shows that they would have learned a great deal over the month, skills that will last them a lifetime!

And Pimlico isn't leaving it there, three or four of the young people will be completing work placements to build on the skills that they have already learned.

18/04/2011

All Work On The Streatham Youth Centre Is Now Complete!

The Streatham Youth Centre Project is now finished and all work on the 50 year old building is complete.

The place has been transformed and the centre now has a brand new roof and all rooms have been renovated.

All of the partners that have worked together to make this project possible including, Pimlico, Wickes, A4E and the Co Sponsorship agency are very pleased with how successful this plan successful.

All of the youngsters worked incredibly hard to restore there youth center and have picked up a lot of useful building skills along the way that have helped them in gaining a vocational accreditation. And some of the youngsters have even gained a work placement as a result of this experience, for instance two of the young people are going to do two weeks of work experience at Pimlico in a trade of their choice.

The grand opening of the Streatham Youth Centre is on Tuesday 19th April at 4pm.

13/04/2011

MP Chris Grayling Visits Streatham Youth Centre!

Chris Grayling, Minister of State in the Department of Work and Pensions, paid a visit to our Streatham Youth Centre 'Volunteer it Yourself' project this week.

With the number of jobless 18 to 24-year-olds increasing by 12,000 to 963,000 the Ministers was keen to support VIY as an innovative example of encouraging and enabling young people to earn an apprenticeship and access routes in employment.

He was given a tour around the centre and was very impressed by how hard the youngsters and their mentors were working to renovate the building.

This visit confirmed that this scheme could be used as a blueprint and rolled out across the country. Chris Grayling certainly thought that private businesses coming together to give young people vital work skills, which will help them gain future employment, while at the same time, restoring an important community resource is the way forward!

Click here to see the ITV News Programme on the project

18/03/2011

Big Society In Action!

The Big Society idea is a winner and Pimlico, Wickes, A4E and Co-Sponsorship Agency have proved this with the‘Volunteer it Yourself' (VIY) Streatham Youth Centre pilot project. This is 'Big Society' in action!

Charlie Mullins and youth centre member Sophie were on Colourful Radio this morning talking to Juju and Lester about the project. And the response from their listeners was massive. The station was bombarded with calls and emails from people showing their support for ‘Big Society’ and the project.

Click her to listen

With a couple of weeks left to go our guys and the younsters are still working hard to give their 50-year community youth centre a new lease of life.

"I can't say enough about the dedication and keenness to work and learn of the youngsters," says Charlie.

14/03/2011

End of Week Two And The Youth Centre Is Looking Very Colourful Indeed!

At the end of week two the youth centre is looking very colourful indeed. The paint that the youngters have chosen for each room has arrived and now the lounge/chill out room is lime green and the gym is bright pink!

The youngters have learnt many skills from our guys. From the painting and decorating side of things skills include stripping and prepping the walls, filling in holes and cracks to get them ready for painting, painting methods including brush and roller techniques for interiors and exteriors and varnishing techniques.

And very importantly they have learnt how to work well as part of a team and how to work safely especially when they're working with ladders, on raised platforms and on the roof.

Up on the roof and everybody is still working hard. It's now water tight and the once dilapidated surface now looks much smarter.

Charlie visited the centre at the end of last week to see how things were getting on and to meet the youngters again. He was very impressed with the work that's already been done in a short space of time and with the youngters enthusiasm for the project.

08/03/2011

The South London Press!

The young people of the youth centre and their mentors were very impressed today when when they saw themselves in the South London Press (see below).

Local press and people are becoming very interested in this project and have been very supportive.

07/03/2011

One Week Down Three More To Go!

After the first week the transformation of the youth centre is already underway. All of the youngters have come on heaps and bounds just in seven days and their confidence and level of skill has increased.

The youngters spent some time today choosing the colour scheme for all of the rooms inside and after a long deliberation process they came to a decision.

Unfornunatly the work on the roof came to a bit of a stand still on Friday due to much needed materials not being delivered. But today all materials have turned up on site so they can crack on straight away.

03/03/2011

The Youth Centre Is Looking Better Already!

The youngters got stuck in today painting the huge gym ceiling and prepping the walls ready for the big colour transformation.

Up on the roof they were hard at work paiting the external walls, priming the roof and helping their mentors with the felting.

Things are looking good and coming a long well.

28/02/2011

The Streatham Youth Centre Project Gets Underway Today!

At last after several months of planning our 'Big Society' style community project, involving 40 unemployed young people repairing their own 50-year old youth centre Streatham, South London got underway today.

After a few unfortunate mishaps including the delivery lorry carrying all the materials needed to make a start of the project not turning up, the work on the youth centre finally began.

Pimlico roofers Richard and Russell got moving on the huge task of sweeping and water blasting the roof in preparation for the new surface to be added. Inside the youth centre painter and decorator made a start on the hours of prep work required before any thought of painting and plastering.

By 11am Pimlico's roofers, plumbers and decorators were working with the young trainees to renovate and transform their youth centre.

Both Pimlico's engineers and the trainees are getting themselves ready for another day of hard work tomorrow.

23/02/2011

Day One of Streatham Youth Centre Project- Couldn’t Have Gone Better!

The Streatham Youth Centre visit couldn’t have gone better yesterday. It was great to meet the young people who are going to be working with our guys to completely renovate the centre over the coming month.

Some of the youngsters were a bit hesitant at first but once we gave them a tour of the building, a bit of lunch and they met their mentors they really got into the project. I'm confident that all members will get stuck into the task at hand on Monday morning and really benefit from it.

I’m even more excited about the project after meeting the youngsters and looking forward to Friday when more members of the youth club are coming in for a ramp up session ahead of the project starting next week.

22/02/2011

Day One Of The Streatham Youth Centre Project Kicks Off Today!

Its day one of the Streatham Youth project today as 40 young people visit Pimlico ahead of work beginning at the centre on Monday.

They are coming in to see how we do things here, find out the main aims of the project and to meet their mentors who they will be working with for the next month renovating the Youth Centre. Work will consist of repairing the building's roof, undertaking plumbing work in the centre's toilet facilities, services and repairing the central heating system and redecorating most of the building.

This is an exciting and essential project that with help from our partners who are providing materials and training facilities and some government funding, will see young people gaining vital work skills for the future whilst at the same time renovating their youth centre giving them a sense of ownership of the project.

Using young people to repair buildings important to them is a win, win solution and I'm sure that it will be replicated across the country once this one has proven to be a success.