Dawsons Corner social value update

We continue to thank everyone in the community for their patience during the ongoing works on Dawsons Corner and Stanningley Bypass.

The project team with partners Sisk have been busy undertaking a variety of social impact initiatives to engage and support the local community.

Key activities include year 10 mock interviews, where Sisk spent a day at Guiseley school to help the next generation prepare for the world of work. Students were asked questions about what they hoped to do, and what steps they would need to take to get there.

Teachers and pupils provided feedback from the day saying, “Thank you all once again for helping us out today. We have had great feedback from our students, with 91% saying they found the experience really useful.”

A big thanks to pupils and teachers at Guiseley school.

Being good neighbours

The Dawson’s Corner scheme site office was set up in the car park of Pudsey Civic Centre – an area surrounded by different groups of residents.

One group who rely heavily on the car park are older people living in sheltered accommodation right next to the site. They got in touch to say the reduced parking and narrow spaces were making it harder for them to get in and out of their vehicles, especially for those with mobility challenges.

Wanting to be good neighbours, the team offered to create dedicated disabled bays for them to use while works take place on site. These were marked out during a night shift and have been warmly welcomed by residents.

One local resident shared, “These new wider bays are brilliant for me because I really struggle twisting round to get out narrow parking spaces. Thank you to everyone at Sisk for putting these in for us.”

Summer placement

Twenty-two-year-old Khalil is a second-year quantity surveying student at the University of Huddersfield.

When it came to wanting to gain industry experience, Khalil wanted a placement with a main contractor to gain an insight into how a construction project is run and the different roles that contribute to a project.

After attending the Leeds Apprenticeship Fair in February 2025, he struck up a conversation with Sisk Stakeholder Manager, Kelly Sowden about careers in construction. That chat sparked his interest in exploring the role of a quantity surveyor.

Khalil sent in his CV and was later invited to interview at Sisk. 

Khalil said, "I’m really enjoying the role and learning every day. It’s so varied and it’s great that I can get to go on to site as well as spending time in the office. I’m hoping to continue my career in construction when I complete my final year.”