McConnell Dowell - Memorandum of Understanding with Ara Education Charitable Trust
We are pleased to announce that in a joint effort with Built Environs, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Ara Education Charitable Trust (AECT)!
AECT is a not-for-profit organisation that provides work experience and career education for students in their final two years at school. The trust also helps students obtain work placements after they have graduated from the Trade Academies Programme.
Currently, the AECT team is working with students from five South Auckland schools. Old state houses are donated to the trust by Kainga Ora, Auckland Council, Auckland Airport and the Eastern Busway Project. Those enrolled in the programme spend a year renovating the donated houses so they can get real-life experience. “It’s about teaching our young men and women about work ethic; coming to work on time and completing the work to a standard where they can be proud of what they have achieved,” says carpentry tutor Mat Watford.
The Memorandum of Understanding outlines the three areas where we can have the most impact:
- Hands-on engagement with their Forever Home Project
- Outsourcing skilled our employees to teach students on campus
- Providing recycled materials from various worksites to support their charitable builds.
We are excited about this partnership and look forward to seeing what we can build together with AECT!
