DRIVING through a housing estate, pointing out homes and community projects they’ve worked on throughout the city being enjoyed by fellow Glaswegians.

That is the driving force behind young City Building apprentices and it’s a passion that binds them together like family.

Dylan Trewavasm 21, Cameron Moir, 19, and 18-year-old Phoebe Ali are at various stages of their apprenticeship, travelling from different corners of Glasgow to study completely different trades but their excitement for the company – which picked up its second Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development on Saturday – is one of the same.

“I like driving through schemes, thinking to myself ‘I did a bit of that house’,” said joinery apprentice Cameron, from Ruchill.

“It makes you feel so proud, proud as punch.”

And it’s a feeling his fellow apprentices relate to, such as the moment Phoebe – the only female second year plumbing student – welcomed two new women apprentices to the first year of the course.

The Cardonald resident explained: “There’s a lot more girls in the industry now than there has been in the past, that’s something I was worried about at first.

“I wondered if I would be treated any differently but honestly, everyone has been amazing. A lot of the older guys see you as family, they take you under your wing and treat you almost like a granddaughter. Two girls just started in first year and I was over the moon.”

The City Building apprentice system is one of the country’s largest, with a 94 per cent completion rate for its young people compared with an industry average of 75 per cent.

A total of 20 per cent of all female craft apprentices in Scotland are employed by the firm.

All of the company’s recruits go through extensive training – with all three admitting they were “shocked” at how little they knew about their trade roles when the began – before being offered the choice to progress their education further through college or university, all with the backing of City Building.

“They recognise that you’re young,” Dylan, of Stepps, added.

“I think in school there’s a lot of pressure from mates and other people you know who are going to university but now I know people who have chucked uni and went into a trade.

“I know I made the right choice. I’m passionate about joinery and I know there’s a lot of opportunities for me here outwith my trade, if I choose that.”

The organisation, which employs more than 2200 staff across Glasgow, was recognised for its social ethos by providing sustainable employment for young people, like Dylan, Cameron and Phoebe, as well as disabled people and minorities.

It’s a policy the firm says “underpins” its business operations, from its procurement processes, which aim to support local or sustainable organisations, to waste management, which its reduced by 10 per cent over the past five years.

Councillor Greg Hepburn, chair of City Building (Contracts), said: “It is a huge honour to receive our second Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development. As well as being a major boost for our workforce, it is also fantastic for our customers, our suppliers and the communities in which we work and serve.

“This award shows that we are leading the way in the construction industry and will put the company in a strong position to develop and grow.”

And for its staff, it doesn’t get much more exciting.

Cameron added: “It’s really exciting to win. I’m very happy to be apart of it all and I’m proud to work at City Building.”