Themis apprentices help Home Improvement Studio renovate cricket club

As part of National Apprenticeship Week, a number of Themis Construction Apprentices have been working on a renovation project at Read Cricket Club.

Organised by Read-based kitchen, bedroom and bathroom specialists, The Home Improvement Studio, this project sees apprentices from Themis’ electrical; carpentry and joinery; and painting and decorating departments working to renovate the club’s old changing rooms into a function room to be used by the community.

Having stripped the room back to its bare essentials the team of Apprentices spent the week putting the relevant electrical facilities in place and preparing the walls and floors. Over the next few weeks it will be the turn of the painting and decorating apprentices to turn the room into an inviting space for the local community to use for a variety of functions and community events.

Martin Isherwood form The Home Improvement Studio said he and his wife Rachel decided to become involved in the project because of their previous involvement with Themis and local connections with Read Cricket Club.

He said: “We had no doubt that we wanted to be involved in this project, the hard work and dedication that the Themis staff and Apprentices have given has really paid off. This will be a great facility for the local community.”

On hearing about the project, the Themis trainers within the construction division at Burnley College leapt at the opportunity to help the local club make full use of their facilities. Ralph Stone, Themis trainer for painting and decorating said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for our Apprentices to gain even more practical, on-the-job training, as well as giving back to their local community. Projects like this are close to the Themis team’s heart and we hope to do a lot more in the future.”

This project was just one part of Themis’ activities over National Apprenticeship Week. Along with community work, Themis have been at local schools and Burnley Job Centre raising the profile of apprenticeships. At the beginning of the week, Themis director Simon Jordan and recruitment officer Jeanette Brindle visited Mackintosh Ltd. and New Call Telecom to be apprentices for the afternoon.