West Suffolk College, Bury St Edmunds, hosts event outlining vital role of women in construction industry
A college has hosted an event celebrating the vital role women play in the construction sector.
The event took place at Edmunds Restaurant, West Suffolk College, and formed part of the recent West Suffolk Business Festival.
It was aimed at inspiring students by providing them with visible role models, while creating an inclusive Women in Construction community in the East of England.
It was arranged up by Clare Friel, managing director of Friel marketing agency, along with industry news outlet, Construction Anglia.
Guest speakers included Siu Min Li, crowned the 2023 Construction Industry Training Board’s most influential woman in construction
Former student of the college, Kynleigh Parker, who now works for Lovell, also joined a panel of guests that included Fran Dinsdale, DPL Group, Richmal Hardinge Castons Artelia Group, Averil Young, West Suffolk College, and Natalie Clifton, MACE / Sizewell.
After networking, an ice breaker event and lunch, the panel took questions from the floor during a Q and A with over 100 guests.
Clare, who was recently named as an Industry Ally at CITB Top 100 Women in Construction, for the second year running, said: “I am lucky to have an amazing network both locally and nationally. Therefore, I created this event to give students and young people visible role models in construction.
“For women working in the industry, it was a chance for them to meet new connections and build a community.”
Siu Min Li, director of the Temporary Works Forum and chair of the event. She said: “Today was all about creating a community, supporting people in the industry and the idea was to take away the stigma of construction.
“There are lots of opportunities, be it digital, graphic design, accountancy, law. It’s not just hard hats and steel toecap boots. I think the message is construction is an industry for everyone.”
Averil Young, West Suffolk College maths lecturer at the Built Environment campus, arranged for 17 female students to get involved in the event.
She said: “This is the first time our students get to realise how many women are working in the industry and how many opportunities there are.”
The event was sponsored by Castons Artelia Group, Sizewell C, DPL, and Hudson Group and was part of the 2024 West Suffolk Business Festival. Other key supporters were West Suffolk College, CITB, Eastern Education Group and Friel.
The lunch is set to be the first of many Women in Construction Anglia events after the response from attendees.
