Launched in early 2016, DYW Inverness and Central Highland forms part of the Scottish Government’s Youth Employment strategy, ensuring our young people have the skills and confidence needed to make the seamless transition between school and the work force.
Working with schools, partner agencies, employers, parents and young people, our goal is to bridge the gap between learning and working and allow each respective group to engage with one another, fostering a culture of collaboration.
We’ve been met with fantastic support, including:
n 484 employers formally engaged to work with schools
n 4293 young people we have engaged with so far
Our work goes towards preparing the next generation for the 49,800 jobs available in the Highlands in the next 10 years.
Helping to upskill young people in the Highlands
In 2016, we launched the first of our Journey Into… initiatives. Designed to give young people an introduction into different industries, so far we have successfully co-ordinated Journey into Construction and Journey into Beauty programmes.
Journey Into…Beauty
Local secondary school Dingwall Academy approached us following a number of pupils’ disappointment at being unable to secure a place on a vocational college beauty course.
We worked with teachers to explore the possibility of offering training through the school, and with the help of the Social Enterprise Academy, Dingwall Academy’s in-house nail bar, File’n’Style, was launched.
Ten pupils underwent professional training courses before putting their skills to the test in a specially created classroom, offering treatments to staff and pupils and opening for Christmas and spring fayres.
The pupils’ confidence has grown, with their new responsibilities resulting in the development of customer service skills as well as providing them with insight into running their own workplace and business – valuable life skills. They also understand the importance of business planning and providing a well-run service.
At the same time, a number of senior pupils at Dingwall Academy set up The Sunflower Café, redesigning, refurnishing and redecorating a classroom into a fully-fledged coffee shop. Run by volunteer pupils under the assistance of staff, the team carry out all of the baking, cleaning, serving, planning and hosting, taking bookings from community groups, teachers, sporting associations, classes and regional working groups.
Ever-enterprising, the pupils soon set up a joint venture between The Sunflower Café and File’n’Style, inviting residents of a local care home for an afternoon of tea, coffee and cakes followed by a nail treatment. The interaction between the residents and pupils was a joy to see and the pupils and their clients thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Further care homes in the area have also enquired about visiting the café and nail bar in the future, proving it to be a valuable and sustainable venture.
Both enterprises have been very successful and for the most part, pupil-lead. The employability skills developed will undoubtedly help the pupils in the future. Now our first batch of recruits are ready to use their experience to train junior pupils.
Journey Into…Construction
The Journey into Construction programme was tailor-made to provide young people interested in a career in construction with the insight and qualifications required to work in the industry.
The pilot programme saw seven budding constructors from local secondary schools spend two weeks on site at construction companies around Inverness. One student – Declan Kelly – impressed his managers at Compass Building & Construction Services Ltd so much that he was offered an apprenticeship.
Compass’s Safety and Quality Manager Graham Bell said: “During Declan’s initial work experience, we were really impressed by his attitude and work ethic so offered him an additional four weeks paid work experience, during which Declan received in-depth introductions to different aspects of the construction site. After continuing to impress us, we took Declan on as a full-time apprentice.”
