David Talks at The Branch

Our Senior Structural Engineer David Girling was invited to speak to a group of local secondary school students at The Branch last Tuesday. The Branch, Chipping Norton, is on its way to becoming the town's new community hub and will provide support for local people. Despite still being in the construction stage, the team behind the project want to get young people involved right from the start.

The students have been invited to visit the site several times, meeting with various members of the build team in the hope of inspiring future careers. David's talk focused on what it's like to be a Structural Engineer, the journey he took to becoming an engineer and the sort of tasks he does on a day-to-day basis. He used some of The Branch's fantastic structural drawings as examples, helping the students visualise what our engineers undertake during a project's development. The students seemed very engaged and asked lots of interesting questions to learn more.

The Branch Trust, founded in 2020, provides a nurturing environment and offers training, connection, and opportunity to help break the cycles of poverty, isolation, violence, and disadvantage. An innovative local response, The Branch want to unlock potential and build brighter futures in an area which has been highlighted as having the most deprived neighbourhood in West Oxfordshire. The Branch, located at 16 Market Place, Chipping Norton, will be a welcoming, valued space right in the heart of the market town and will be a ‘hub’ for the work that The Branch Trust do.

Whilst the Branch Trust was only established in 2020, the group have been working together for many years to serve the local community. During the pandemic, for example, 25,000 meals were delivered to those most affected by Covid-19 within the community. They have also created youth clubs and parent drop-in sessions where individuals can discuss issues such as mental health worries, debt, domestic abuse, or loneliness within a safe, nurturing space.

The talks being held monthly to the group of secondary school students are part of the Trust’s ‘Branch Out and Build’ programme. Since they began ten pupils have familiarised themselves with site safety and the relevant PPE needed. They have been kitted out with hard hats, high vis jackets and steel toe-capped boots, provided by Savvy. Each has been challenged with thought provoking questions such as, how to get a bank vault out of a basement? Once all the talks are completed the group will have heard from the bricklayers, architects, project managers, joiners and quantity surveyors from the project, not forgetting the SOLID team, and will have seen some fabulous progress made on site.

SOLID are proud to be a part of this exciting venture, working alongside Acanthus Clews Architects, Savvy Group, SKP3 Ltd and The Branch Trust team. We look forward to updating you on progress again soon.