Daventry mum follows her plumbing dream with the help of housing provider

PJ Lilley plumber Dale Kimberley supervises Lisa Scraboro as she helps to install a wet room

Lisa Scraboro, 35, completed a college plumbing course but her lack of practical experience stopped her from landing a full-time role so she contacted her landlord Futures Housing Group for help.

The firm’s Futures Gateways initiative proved useful as Ms Scraboro was offered an eight-day placement with one of their contractors, PJ Lilley Ltd, which helped her gain hands-on experience.

Ms Scraboro said: “I love it, I find it so interesting because I get to do a different thing every day.

“Construction is dominated by men because people think women can’t do things like heavy lifting – but there’s a lot of skills that we can bring to the sector.”

Futures Gateways is a nationally recognised programme which helps Futures’ customers prepare for their first role or a return to work.

Lindsey Williams, Futures Housing Group’s chief executive, said: “We’re really pleased that we’ve been able to connect Lisa and provide her with the crucial work experience she needs.

“Through Futures Gateways, local firms, such as PJ Lilley, can find skilled and work-ready people who support the local economy, as well as helping customers maintain their tenancies thanks to a stable income. I wish Lisa every luck in her future career.”

In the past year, Futures Gateways has worked with 92 customers like Ms Scraboro, 17 of whom have been supported into long-term roles.

Twenty-four have received job offers and a further 69 have secured a job interview. In addition, 214 job skills sessions have been delivered to improve customer opportunities and their quality of life.

Tom Travers, building services director at PJ Lilley, said: “For a while now we’ve given experience to help people into employment, showing them a taste of the workplace. College is great but it’s different on site, where you need practical as well as technical knowledge.

“We deliberately chose a week for Lisa that would give her a wide variety of experience and from what I hear she’s been getting on really well.”