Get Girls Plumbing:- Campaign Launches

LONDON - March 19, 2014 - PRLog -- Thursday 20th March is the launch of a campaign by Watersafe UK to encourage girls into plumbing. They're supported in this by Hattie Hasan, founder of Stopcocks Women Plumbers.

The campaign is fronted by consumer champion Alice Beer and backed by the Minister for Women and Equalities, Maria Miller.

Starting with a Radio Day tomorrow, Thursday 20th March the campaign will be featured in hundreds of local radio stations, local and national press  plus lifestyle and trade magazines.

Watersafe UK have carried out research which shows that the gender of their plumber is not a concern for the majority of homeowners, however in her plumbing career of almost 25 years Hasan has found that many customers will actively choose a female plumber when given the option.

Recently on Twitter Stopcocks Women Plumbers asked followers to describe their ideal plumber. The words that came back focussed on service: Trustworthy, Dependable, Honest, Respect the Customer, Polite, Great After-Service 'Help', Someone who Cleans Up After Their Work and Takes Rubbish Away were typical responses.

Hasan has built a successful career and now a successful national company by championing customer service and says this is where female plumbers excel.

Prevented from studying woodwork and metalwork at school in the 70's Hattie Hasan became a teacher after completing a psychology degree. But the call of science was loud for her and after 8 years she left the stability of a teaching career for the self-determined life of establishing her own business as a plumber.

Having completed her training she was unable to get a job, so undeterred, she set about employing herself.

Sadly, over 20 years later little has changed and she still receives almost daily emails from women and girls who want to become plumbers but who cannot see any way to do it. This is why she started Stopcocks Women Plumbers and why she wholeheartedly supports Watersafe UK's campaign to encourage girls to become plumbers. It takes a very determined girl to choose to become a plumber straight from school and for many, not being presented with that choice early on can mean they never get there or have to retrain later in life when financial constraints can become more of an issue.

"For girls to be able to choose plumbing or other trades at an early age we need a concerted approach, the option needs to be presented to them in schools, they need to see women as plumbers and tradeswomen on TV, access to training and jobs and most importantly, they need to see women as plumbers coming into their own homes - At Stopcocks we know we are role models as well as plumbers and it's vital for boys to see this as well as girls."

Hasan believes gender shouldn't be a bar for either boys or girls to fulfil their potential and become whatever they want to be. In her case, she became a plumber and as her book 'The Joy of Plumbing' suggests, it has brought her happiness and fulfilment.

Currently, Stopcocks Women Plumbers works with women around England supporting them to establish their own Stopcocks business after training. They're keen to expand and provide women plumbers in Scotland and Wales and to introduce the concept of customer service as a priority to the industry.