Willmott Dixon and a team of students from Greater Brighton Metropolitan College have created temporary accommodation for homeless people at St Patrick’s Church in Hove.

The company is mid-way through a project to redevelop GB MET’s Pelham Street site by extending an existing tower block to provide the new Centre for Creative and Digital Industries.

Alongside this work, a number of its management trainees joined forces with college students to refurbish St Patrick’s Church on Cambridge Road over an eight-week period to create a safe environment for some of the town’s most vulnerable people. 

As well as creating a welcoming place for homeless people to stay, the project gave students studying construction and trades courses at the college valuable ‘hands-on’ experience of building work. 

The team were assisted by generous donations of materials from Willmott Dixon’s supply chain partners who also provided assistance for the more technical elements with the students.

Willmott Dixon Managing Director Roger Forsdyke said: “Our company ethos is that we have a purpose beyond profit and this has been such a rewarding project to be involved in.

“All my team are proud to have created a facility that will be a safe place for homeless people in Brighton to stay, especially in these tough times where we are dealing with the impact of Covid-19. 

“It would not have been possible without the support of key supply chain, in particular Mitie who provided the M&E support with a large donation of materials and technical supervision, plus Everest Miles with materials and labour for the decorations and Global Ceramics to complete the tiling.”