Trailblazing sponsorship of the Building Heroes Darlington Skills Academy

A trailblazing three-year partnership between Lovell, Morgan Sindall Construction and the Building Heroes Education Foundation launches the industry-focused sponsorship of the Darlington Skills Academy, a major support hub for Service leavers and veterans looking to enter into a career within the construction industry, delivered with Darlington College, a leading FE institution and outstanding training partner in the North East.

This strategic alliance underscores each division’s commitment to the former military community, social mobility, upskilling, and widening access to meaningful careers across construction, housebuilding, facilities management and infrastructure. In 2025, the Group and all its associated divisions achieved the Gold accreditation of the Armed Forces Covenant.

A partnership with purpose

The collaboration will provide Building Heroes learners with real-world insight, strong industry connections, and a breadth of opportunity across the built environment. When working with Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction, learners will benefit from the wider experience of other divisions of Morgan Sindall Group and their extensive supply chain.

Darlington College, recognised as a centre of excellence for technical and vocational skills, brings a collaborative, progressive, and employer-led approach to the partnership. Its modern facilities, expert tutors, and commitment to upskilling and redeployment make it the ideal environment to prepare learners for successful civilian careers in construction and the built environment.

The sponsorship is expected to directly support a minimum of 80 learners per year through the Darlington provision, but engagement from Lovell and Morgan Sindall Construction will be welcomed across the whole of the Building Heroes network, which currently supports 700 learners per year, with capacity set to grow as the Darlington Skills Academy expands its training offer. To date, Building Heroes has supported over 4,200 military-connected learners across its training network to access nationally recognised civilian qualifications, CSCS cards, and health & safety awards. This partnership ensures the organisation can continue to provide barrier-free training not only in Darlington but across Britain, supporting Service leavers, veterans and the wider former military community into meaningful employment.

For Building Heroes, the partnership brings stability and room to grow: it underpins their barrier-free training offer in Darlington and enables development of an “Enhanced Academy” over the coming years – expanding programmes, deepening employer engagement, and enhancing outcomes for Service leavers, veterans and the wider former military community.

Why Darlington and the North matter

Situated close to Catterick Garrison, the Darlington region is at the heart of the British Armed Forces community. The Darlington Skills Academy is ideally placed to support former forces personnel and their families from the local and national military community to upskill and access opportunities to develop sustainable, skilled careers in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

Next steps and official launch

The launch of the partnership was celebrated at the graduation event for its recent cohort. Fourteen learners from the former military community completed an intensive five-week training programme in November and December 2025. It blended:

• Core construction skills development in a compact, high-impact format
• Employability support, including CV preparation and interview coaching
• Employer introductions across the sponsoring partnership network
• A live site immersion day -taking learners “behind the hoarding” on an active construction site to connect workshop learning with real-world delivery

John Leary, who leads the Building Heroes initiative for Lovell, said:

“It has been a privilege to help nurture our relationship with Building Heroes over the last three years or so, and I am particularly thrilled that just as our year of Gold Sponsorship has come to an end, we are able to now ensure our work with the charity can solidly mature to a wholly new level, through our planned development of an enhanced academy at Darlington College.

“Moreover, with our sister company Morgan Sindall Construction now alongside us, we have a much broader capability and skill-set with which to support the Charity and seek to enhance the Learners’ experience through an exciting programme of site exchanges and other interaction, all of which will clearly and soundly underpin our Group’s pledges under the Armed Forces Covenant and, importantly, help create new opportunities for Service leavers and veterans in Darlington and across the wider North East.