The Young Women鈥檚 Trust is a charity that seeks to help women aged 16 to 30 who are on low or no pay. James Wates has committed to work with the charity to address barriers women face to entering male-dominated industries, including construction.
A particular cause for the charity is making apprenticeships work as well for girls as for boys. James Wates said: 鈥淭he Young Women鈥檚 Trust does tremendous work, and I am very pleased to be supporting it as its first ambassador. In the construction industry, we are experiencing significant skills shortages, and one of the reasons for this is our collective failure to recruit and retain women.
鈥淭he nature of jobs in construction 鈥� as in many sectors 鈥� is changing, with digitalisation and more off-site work bringing new opportunities to recruit a more diverse and innovative workforce. I鈥檓 excited to be working with Young Women鈥檚 Trust to address the underrepresentation of women in construction and many other sectors, which is not just the right thing to do, but also in our economic best interests.鈥�
Young Women鈥檚 Trust chief executive Carole Easton said: "Young Women's Trust is excited to be working with our new charity ambassador James Wates to look at how businesses can improve the gender balance in their workforces.鈥�
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