Work is continuing on a new £35 million leisure centre in Craigavon.

Farrans Construction is delivering the new South Lake Leisure Centre and construction is estimated to last until 2020.

Once finished, the facility will feature an eight-lane, 50-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool, fun pool and a spectator gallery.

Around 500 jobs are expected to be generated by both the construction phase and new leisure facility, with an estimated £6.5m in direct wages to the economy.

As part of the community engagement process, this week local students and job seekers heard about the various career opportunities in all aspects of the construction industry – technical, contracts and support – at an ‘opportunities day' in Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre, hosted by Farrans in partnership with Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council.

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The structured day included a site visit, allowing students and job-seekers to see the large-scale construction site in progress and hear about structured work experience opportunities and apprenticeship schemes.

In addition, to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, Farrans held an event for young female students where they heard from one of the successful female engineers giving them first-hand insight into life on a £35m building site.

Lord Mayor of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon, Cllr Julie Flaherty said: "Our council is dedicated to showcasing our borough as an ideal location for working, investing and visiting. The South Lake Leisure Centre project ticks all those boxes – we are providing fantastic career opportunities for young people through one of the biggest flagship projects we have seen in this region in a decade, making the ABC borough the perfect place to visit and invest."

Brigid McGuigan, Community Engagement Manager at Farrans, said: "Recent research showed that the construction industry is struggling to cope with a huge skills gap, so we are keen to encourage as many young people, especially women, as we can to join this fascinating and exciting sector.

"We are delighted to be able to offer local jobs to local people, and urge anyone interested in getting into construction to get in touch with me."

Image: Patrick Robinson, Farrans placement student engineer, and aspiring young engineer, Katie-Ann Fegan, year nine student at Brownlow Integrated College, during International Women in Engineering Day at Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council's £35m leisure centre site at Craigavon's South Lake.

(LM/MH)