National Construction College Cathall Rd.

Looking back at the past, an occasional series. Part two: ‘Our Olympics – “Chariots of Ire”‘

July 29, 2022 2012 Olympics in Waltham Forest, 2012 Olympics in Waltham Forest: Leyton Market, 2012 Olympics in Waltham Forest: the Dispersal Order, National Construction College Cathall Rd.

Purely for amusement, and to compliment all the remeniscing prompted by the 2012 anniversary, here’s a post that first appeared on this blog in 2015, one of a series on ‘Our Olympics’ (see links for the others). Who can forget the sight of no less a figure than LBWF CEO Martin Esom scurrying round the borough’s public libraries to collect in as many copies of the council’s Olympic guide to Leyton as he could, lest he and his chums be blamed for the evolving fiasco that was the Leyton Market? A ‘Gold medal for ineptitude’, indeed. ‘Our Olympics’: (1) LB... »

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Tackling worklessness: Newham v. LBWF

January 20, 2016 National Construction College Cathall Rd., Worknet

I was interested to read a story last week in the Guardian which suggested that Newham’s growing affluence was partly the result of its council’s ‘reimagined jobs scheme’, Workplace (‘What’s behind the huge fall in deprivation in east London? And no, it’s not gentrification’, 14 January 2016). In past years, apparently, Newham council simply ‘advised residents on their CVs, pointed them to job postings, and sent them on their way’, a system that resulted in a mere 2 per cent then finding work. Now, because more than a dozen Workplace managers are embedded with major local employers, they are b... »

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The National Construction College’s Cathall Rd. facility UPDATE: local people still miss out

June 12, 2015 National Construction College Cathall Rd.

Courtesy of the LBWF Growth Scrutiny Committee, I now have some up-to-date figures on how many people – and in particular how many local people – have attended The National Construction College’s Cathall Rd. facility. As I pointed out in a previous post on this subject, LBWF initially promised that the College would have a dramatic impact on the locality. In December 2010, Council Leader Cllr Chris Robbins told Waltham Forest News that it was ‘“a fantastic, world-class training facility for local residents and people from across east London”’ and endorsed the view that ‘over the next four year... »

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‘Our Olympics’: (2) The National Construction College’s Cathall Rd. facility

April 10, 2015 National Construction College Cathall Rd.

The National Construction College’s facility in Cathall Rd., on the Leyton-Leytonstone border, was presented by LBWF as the jewel in the crown of Waltham Forest’s Olympic legacy. Looking like a super IKEA, looming over the surrounding buildings, and hyped by every Labour hack from Cathall Councillor Terry Wheeler to the Leader himself, here was something, the patter ran, that really was going to impact on local people’s lives, and in particular dramatically diminish worklessness. Today, the Construction Academy is virtually forgotten, and the rumour is that it will soon close. Loca... »

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