All 110 first-year students in Fanshawe's Carpentry Techniques program received a hardhat from the London Home Builders' Association last Wednesday.

The donation, which retails at $2,200, was given as part of their ‘Protecting Our Future' program.

“London has an economy based on education and health care, and that stable economy creates a prosperous construction industry,” said Shellie Chowns, LHBA's Careers in Construction Chair. “But the industry consists of an aging workforce which is creating a manpower shortage. And we're taking the first-steps in recruiting younger workers.

“You don't just build houses, you build homes where families live, parks where kids play and neighbourhoods where people feel they belong.”