Read why this plumber made our shortlist to be a Ȧ 2012 Hero for his work on the Olympic stadium
Over the last three months, Ȧ has been searching for three Ȧ 2012 Heroes. They can be people of all ages, job titles and professions within construction who have made a real difference on the Olympic project behind the scenes and have not been dominating the headlines - until now.
It’s not too late to put yourself forward, or someone you think should be nominated. We will be accepting nominations until 6 July. Simply fill in the form
This week we’ll be talking to some of the nominees ahead of Friday’s feature on the campaign. Today we hear from nominee Eugene Oppong-Kwarteng, who worked as a plumber on the main stadium.
EUGENE OPPONG-KWARTENG
The 25-year-old from Newham is a trainee heating and ventilation engineer at Imtech Meica. Eugene worked as a plumber on the main Olympic stadium
I got involved with working on the Olympic park when I was looking for an apprenticeship in my gap year and came across Newham College. Because I am from Newham, an Olympic borough, they were interested in putting me forward for work on the park. I took an exam, and passed and then was offered a job working as a trainee plumber with Imtech Meica after two interviews.
I was working on several jobs at once doing plumbing and heating and ventilation work - everything from putting in toilets and showers to checking pipes and water pressures. I got to work in the changing rooms in the main stadium which was so exciting. I was thinking “this is stuff the athletes will be using - and it’s my work”.
I felt special, like I had a great opportunity in my hands and one I didn’t want to lose. That made me work hard. Now I have gone on to work on major hotel jobs like the Grosvenor on Park Lane.
I am still doing my apprenticeship and I will finish it next year. After that I would like to get enough experience to be a project manager. In that sort of role you get to see the whole job from start to finish and you talk to clients. Eventually I would like to run my own company or be the head of a big firm.
All of this has been made possible for me because of the Olympics. And it’s such an important scheme for the UK.
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