Inspiring the next generation
Graham Dean explains why engaging with students from local schools and colleges was of particular importance to Costain during this redevelopment
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Graham Dean
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Community relations and security manager
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2.5 years from 2016
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My work in engaging local schools and colleges
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I am a former police officer so I enjoyed applying the communications and people skills I had developed over my 32 years on the job to my day-to-day role at London Bridge station in liaising with the local community.
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A local artist was walking passed the site one day and spotted some clay we were pulling out of the ground. She later went on to create fantastic pieces of artwork from these unwanted materials and trained others on how to create such pieces.
“As part of my role as community relations manager, I sought to engage with as many members of the local community as possible, from residents and local businesses to commuters passing through each day. Engaging with students from both schools and colleges was of particular importance to us and the work we did with them was a personal highlight. Not only did we share with them information on the project such as what we were doing and why we were doing it but we also conducted a number of interview and CV awareness sessions with the college students to prepare them for their move out of education. A number of the students we spoke to have even gone on to become engineering apprentices. “The station itself looks and feels fantastic. I will often walk around and look up at the quadripartite arches and am amazed at the attention to detail. They are almost ecclesiastical and a fantastic addition to what is a state-of-the-art station.”
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