Thursday 1 April 2010
Access to Employment Initiative is Just the Job
Forth Valley College have joined with eight employers to run an initiative aiming to make young adults in Clackmannanshire more employable.
A total of 12 recent school leavers secured places on the Access to Employment Programme which has been funded by the Fairer Scotland Fund and approved by the Clackmannanshire Alliance – which the college is a member of.
The six month programme which started in January combines a work placement with course work at FVC’s Alloa campus. Placements where students are flourishing have been found in the fields of construction, hair and beauty, vehicle maintenance and nursery care.
Access to Employment aims to give the young people the support they need to develop a good work ethic, relevant skills, improve their literacy, numeracy, IT and communication skills. They will also complete a recognised Health and Safety at Work certificate and gain the knowledge and experience to help them secure future employment or further study options.
Employers who have signed up on the programme include: Clackmannanshire Council, Flying Fox Bikes (Alva), Colour Lounge (Alloa), Cabelo Arte (Alloa), Alloa Leisure Bowl, StaffHunt (Alloa), Village Garage Engineers Ltd (Plean) and the Flying Start Nursery (Sauchie).
Clackmannanshire Council in particular have been heavily involved in the initiative with three students being placed at the Property Contracts Department and one student placed with Land Services.
Wendy Kellock, Forth Valley College Youth Learner Development Worker, said: “The Access to Employment Programme has been working really well since starting in January.
“Hopefully by June when the placements finish some will be kept on in the workplace, but what is guaranteed is that by the summer, these young adults will be armed with skills and techniques which will make them much more employable in the future.”
Councillor Eddie Carrick Sustainability Portfolio Holder, said: “We're delighted to be working closely with our partners at Forth Valley College. The new college will be a further boost to Alloa and projects such as this are an ideal way to expand young people's skills and help them on the path to employment.”
Former Lornshill Academy pupil Kelly Ann Balfour (16) from Tullibody, who is learning about hairstyling at Cabelo Arte Hair and Beauty salon in Alloa, said: “It’s great experience as I want to become a hairstylist. The advantage over work experience is that we are also learning essential skills at the college as well. However nothing beats actually being in the workplace and I am loving my time here at Cabelo Arte.”
Chris Pye (17) from Alloa who is one of three students currently placed with Property Contracts at Clackmannanshire Council, said: “I am really happy with the way this course is going and just hope I can get something out of this at the end in June. I would thoroughly recommend it to any students coming after us as I certainly feel it will help us to get a job.”
The students who started the course are as follows: Thomas Ferris (16), Michael Malkiewick (16), Kieron Pinkerton (16), Alan Campbell (17), Katrina Murray (16), Kelly Ann Balfour (16) all from Tullibody, Chris Pye (17), Greig Preston (16), John Mack (16), Abbie Cleland (16) all from Alloa, Danny Fox (16) from Sauchie and Thomas Gray (16) from Clackmannan.
