When 46-year-old Peter Wilkins lost his job as an electrician with a maintenance company due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, he decided to re-train and signed up for the free British Gypsum plastering and skimming course sector-based work academy programme at the college’s Wellington Road campus.
Peter said: “The course covers skimming and perfecting and finishing techniques, as well as how to work at speed.
“The tutor is great and demonstrates what we have to do, as well as providing lots of support and advice on a 1-2-1 basis.
“It’s great that the course is free and accredited by British Gypsum – it’s a great opportunity and with a guaranteed interview at the end of the course I’d love to be able to get a job out of it.
“I’m a lot more confident and am able to tackle bigger jobs than I previously could and with what I’ve learnt on the course I think I will be more confident in the interview.
“Hopefully, I’ll get a better job after completing the course and continue to work in the growing construction industry – my end goal is to work on a building site and get paid by metreage.
“I would recommend this course 100% and to anyone in a similar situation to me I’d say it’s never too late to learn – it doesn’t have anything to do with your age and there’s nothing you can’t do.”
