Students to build third charity home

PROJECT: The house UCOL students built and sold in 2013. PHOTO/FILE

Carpentry students at UCOL Wairarapa are to build a three-bedroom house for charity under a custom weatherproof facility at the Masterton campus for the third year running.

The first two house build projects raised a total of $65,000 for local charities and a similar success would be sought this year as well, UCOL construction programme co-ordinator Brett Tickner said.

Carpentry tutor Peter Van der Veen said the wood-framed house would feature an en suite and "lifetime" design, and would be built under his supervision by 13 certificate of carpentry students.

The students had seven months to complete their work on the house before its auction in November, he said, and this year the Life Flight Trust and Wairarapa Hospice would receive the profits of the house sale. Run in conjunction with Mitre 10 Mega Masterton and the Dugdale Charitable Trust, the UCOL building ventures had become highly valuable community projects, with many local and national suppliers showing their support with services and products, Mr Tickner said.

"The house build projects are regarded as a real win-win-win situation," he said. "Our trades students get to work on a full-scale construction job, local charities get much-needed funds, and the sponsors and industry partners get a platform to showcase their wares."

Mr Tickner said Mitre 10 Mega Masterton remained the main sponsor of the charity build and "every year they are more and more generous with their support".

The project also had won "great responses from local companies ready to help out" with discounts or donations of their products and services, Mr Tickner said.

"The house build is proving to be a great learning outcome for current students and a vehicle to showcase what we can offer here in trades training."

Several UCOL graduates who were involved in the previous builds had found work in the construction industry, Mr Tickner said, with two students also gaining builders' apprenticeships.