An organisation chaired by Central Piling MD Steve Hadley, who also chaired the FPS (Federation of Piling Specialists), has won a national Equality, Diversity and Inclusion award.

The win came on September 6th at the 2022 Ground Engineering Awards in London for The Ground Forum, an ‘umbrella’ body for the ground engineering sector which brings together five learned societies and four trade.

A major Forum focus is a mentoring scheme to encourage undergraduates, regardless of sex or race, to consider a career in ground engineering which was launched two years ago by Steve, the previous Ground Forum chair Neil Parry, and Ebenezer Adenmosun, director of Geofirma Consultants and a member of the FPS’  technical committee.

They had agreed to try to encourage more students from diverse backgrounds to consider a ground engineering career in construction as civil engineering students are not always aware of the opportunities in construction, while those studying geology are more likely to go into the oil and gas sector.

The main aim of the scheme is to put undergraduates who want to find out more about opportunities in the sector with mentors, those who have been working in it for some time. There are workshops to assist students with presentation and interview skills and help them create effective CVs, but the key benefit identified by mentees has been access to a professional network.

The free scheme is open to all undergraduates studying relevant courses including well drilling, offshore, mineral extraction and the energy sector, and in many cases the mentees have found work experience placements through mentors or their contacts.

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champion award judges said: “This winner demonstrated a high level of leadership from leading industry professionals and commitment to tackling the diversity issues in the industry and fostering change. Promotion of our industry to students is invaluable to creating more open employment opportunities and promoting diversity and inclusion. Mentee feedback provided demonstrates the positive outcomes of tier scheme.”

Pictured from left: GE reporter Thames Menteth, Ebenezer Adenmosun, Neil Parry, Steve Hadley and comedian and awards host Hal Cruttenden.