Thursday 1 April 2010
College Means Business at National Awards
Forth Valley College were celebrating success at the ‘Business to College Awards 2010’ last week at Dynamic Earth, after being awarded two prizes.
The annual event is organised by Scotland’s Colleges to recognise the support colleges provide to businesses which help them to develop and grow.
The College was the winner in the ‘Impact – Public Sector’ category along with Job Centre Plus for a new ground breaking partnership which is helping to give the unemployed access to employability training. They also received a highly commended accolade in the ‘Innovation’ category for a new re-skilling programme developed by OPITO – The Oil and Gas Academy and piloted by the College.
The award winners were selected by an impressive panel of judges with high profile figures from both industry and government.
Wendy Livingstone, Associate Principal for Business & Innovation said: “We are really pleased to have won an award for our ‘Futures Plus’ partnership with Job Centre Plus. Working together, and also with the support of Skills Development Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government’s PACE initiative, we have developed a range of training programmes which have supported a number of individuals back into work. We have also encouraged employers to recruit from the unemployment register. This has been helpful for both the individuals and the local and national economies.”
Billy Howie, Account Manager for Job Centre said: “We are delighted to be a part of this innovative project. This is a brilliant opportunity for local people to build on existing skills or even gain new ones with a view to getting back into work as quickly as possible.”
Forth Valley College and OPITO were also commended for a new re-skilling programme in the ‘Innovation’ category. The OPITO Transformation Programme was designed by OPITO to help unemployed engineers re-train for a career in the oil and gas industries, with the first course being piloted at Forth Valley College. The first group of students recently celebrated completing their course at an event hosted at the Scottish Parliament.
Wendy Livingstone said: “It has been fantastic to deliver the training for this highly innovative re-skilling programme. It is an excellent model which we believe has equipped the students with the skills to find employment within the oil and gas industry. We’re really pleased to have the programme recognised.”
Gillian Black, Policy Affairs Director at OPITO said: “This partnership outlines the importance of Government, Forth Valley College and the industry - through its Academy - supporting more effective utilisation and retention of skills which may otherwise be lost. The role of the Academy is to ensure that we have a wave of people moving into the industry to offset losses generated by the global opportunities it offers. This industry has a need for highly skilled people now and into the future and this model is an efficient way to neatly transfer skills from an area of decline in the economy into an area of growth.”
