Renewing our support for the Armed Forces

We’ve renewed our Bronze Sponsoring Partnership with Building Heroes, the leading tri-service military charity dedicated to the facilitating the transition from military to civilian careers within the construction sector. 

Since its foundation in 2014, Building Heroes has helped over 3,400 graduates into civilian life by offering access to barrier-free construction training programmes. A recipient of the Queen’s Award, the charity continues to collaborate with educational partners and industry leaders to accelerate learning that leads to employment or self-employment in construction, infrastructure and sustainable building sectors. 

Continuing our sponsorship of Building Heroes reinforces our shared commitment to supporting armed forces personnel, advancing construction skills training and fostering community development. Our ongoing collaboration was recently showcased when some of our team joined Building Heroes at a British Forces Resettlement Service careers event, jointly engaging with service leavers to explore a broad range of career opportunities in construction. Another recent example of our partnership was inviting learners from the Basingstoke Building Heroes Academy to experience a comprehensive site tour of our Welborne development in Hampshire, which provided an in-depth view of the complex stages of development and highlighted our commitment to sustainable building practices. 

Our Social Value Manager Sarah Crush commented: “We’re committed to helping veterans and reservists find a rewarding career in construction by providing the necessary skills and employment pathways. Our partnership with Building Heroes supports active service members and veterans transition into civilian life via work placements and site tours as part of the charity’s academy programmes. 

Our dedication to helping the armed forces community is unwavering. Last year, we received a Gold award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, the highest level of recognition available to organisations who pledge, demonstrate and advocate support for, and align their values with, the Armed Forces Covenant. With less than 200 national recipients of this accolade, we are the only south east housebuilder to achieve this status.” 

Chris Charles, CEO of Building Heroes, added: “We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Thakeham. Our decision to renew the partnership with Thakeham is a testament to its leadership in sustainable development and unwavering commitment to quality, the Armed Forces community and the local communities within which they work. 

This collaboration not only strengthens our ability to support the Armed Forces community though our training programmes but also enhances our learners’ experiences with direct involvement in modern, high-quality housing developments through on-site visits and work placements at Thakeham. We’re immensely grateful for Thakeham’s ongoing support, which enriches our charity’s work and provides our learners with deeper industry insights, thereby expanding their career opportunities in the construction sector.” 

By continuing this rewarding collaboration with Building Heroes, we expect to share further success stories in the future as learners transition into rewarding careers, enhanced by the skills and industry knowledge acquired through Building Heroes’ programmes.