Helping Hands
(From Left) Broadworth Modular Managing Director Gerard Goldsmith and Helping Hands Building Manager Jason Jewell
Building Homes and Careers
For more than 30 years, Helping Hands has supported people across the Mid North Coast through care services, home modifications, maintenance and building services. In FY26, the team took that building expertise into a new area: modular housing.
Helping Hands Building Services completed 3,964 jobs during the year, a 12% increase on FY25, while growing its partnership with Broadworth Modular. Through the partnership, Helping Hands has constructed four modular homes and created new apprenticeships and skilled construction roles on the Mid North Coast.
Opening the door to modular construction
A longstanding working relationship between Helping Hands Building Manager Jason Jewell and Broadworth Modular created an opportunity to extend Helping Hands’ existing construction capability into modular housing.
From its Tuncurry site, the Helping Hands team now constructs affordable homes that are transported and installed at developments across New South Wales. For Broadworth Modular Managing Director Gerard Goldsmith, the team’s existing capability was central to the partnership.
“What gave us confidence was Jason and the team at Helping Hands,” Gerard says. “They already had the site, the infrastructure and the capability. It was a professional operation with real capacity and experience behind it.”
As the work has grown, Helping Hands team members have gained experience across carpentry, framing, fit-outs, fabrication and installation, contributing to homes from initial construction through to completion.
“I’m proud that Helping Hands has been able to take on this new challenge, grow our capability and demonstrate that a community-focused organisation can operate successfully in a commercial construction environment while maintaining a strong focus on employment and social impact.”
Jason Jewell, Helping Hands Building Manager
Building pathways for the future
The partnership has already created three apprenticeships, three carpenter roles and a metal fabricator position, helping grow Helping Hands’ workforce while creating new pathways into the construction industry for young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and others who’ve experienced barriers to work.
“On a normal building site, one trade finishes and leaves before the next one comes in,” Gerard says. “Helping Hands has plumbers, electricians, joiners and carpenters all working alongside each other. It’s invaluable for apprentices because they’re exposed to different trades and can see where their interests might take them.”
Jason says, “The site gives apprentices and newer workers the opportunity to build technical skills while learning workplace safety, teamwork, quality control and project delivery in a real construction environment.”
The work is also contributing to housing supply at a time when communities across NSW are facing significant housing pressures.
“The modular homes we’re building are one of the viable forms of affordable housing,” Gerard says. “I’m proud that we’re actively doing something about the housing crisis and helping grow the sector.”
As the partnership continues to grow, Helping Hands is exploring opportunities to create additional apprenticeships, work experience placements and future cadetships.
“For us, success isn’t just measured by how many homes we complete. We see this as an investment in people’s futures. An apprenticeship or entry-level construction position can be the beginning of a long-term career, rather than simply another job. We’re building homes, but at the same time we’re helping build careers.”
Jason Jewell, Helping Hands Building Manager
