Young peoples’ hard work praised by Everest mountaineer
Thirty three young people from across Edinburgh have just completed an 18 week training programme – and 18 of them have gone straight into employment, apprenticeship or further education following their training! Continue reading Honest TOIL!
Apprenticeships point the way ahead in Lothian
Edinburgh College hosted an employer’s engagement event to advance their curriculum strategy around vocational and work based learning last week. Employers, partners, local councils and apprentices joined college leadership to put their heads together and share best practice. Continue reading Edinburgh College develops young workforce
Hope wins Outstanding Achiever award Continue reading Hope springs eternal!
Emergency First Aid at Work, North Edinburgh Childcare
Thursday 5 November 8.45 – 4.45pm
Edinburgh College gives budding digital creatives the chance to make it with BBC scheme
Edinburgh College is giving creative young unemployed people who love likes, hashtags and telling stories online the chance to take the first steps towards a digital industry career.
The college’s eight-week BBC Make it Digital programme will teach skills to unemployed young people including: digital storytelling, building a website, planning a social media campaign, shooting and editing a film and learning how to pitch creative ideas to business.
The training programme was designed by the BBC Academy and is open to unemployed people between 16-24. It will take place at the college’s Milton Road Campus, where students will work with industry-standard software. The course will start on 2 November.
Taking part in this programme does not affect benefits and those between 16 and 18 on the programme will receive £55 per week Training Allowance. Travelling expenses are also part of the support.
Students will spend three weeks on work placements with local employers, who will ask them to design a social media campaign.
Make it Digital is a national scheme but the programme in Scotland has the added benefit of a recognised SQA qualification – the National Progression Award in Enterprise and Employability.
Trainees will also take part in a Radio 1 challenge based in London, where the best entries will be shortlisted into the final recruitment stages for a year-long Radio 1 Apprenticeship.
As well as new digital skills, students will also learn employability skills including business networking, CV and interview tips, budgeting, project management and creating an online portfolio. By the end of the training, participants will greatly improve their chances of finding a job or a modern apprenticeship.
Jon Buglass, head of Creative Industries at Edinburgh College, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to start to develop the skills they need to make it in the creative digital industry. The digital sector is one of the fastest-growing industries in the UK at the moment as businesses now rely on an online presence to survive. We’re excited to be working with the BBC Academy and Skills Development Scotland to give unemployed young people the chance to build digital and employability skills to help them make their way back into the workplace.”
Skills Development Scotland is funding the programme through the Employability Fund. Contact the Edinburgh Skills Development Scotland Careers Centre on 0131 718 2040 or speak to a Jobcentre Work Coach to find out how to apply for this course.
Move On is a charity based at the top of Leith Walk, and we work with vulnerable young people and those affected by homelessness. We are urgently looking for outgoing volunteer mentors for our next training course.
Our mentors are drawn from all walks of life and undergo a thorough recruitment, training and induction process, involving taking up references, a mandatory 4 week training course and membership of the PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups) scheme.
Our mentoring service matches young people (including those who are; looked after, attending SEBD schools, lacking confidence, socially isolated, offending, engaged in risk taking behaviour, misusing substances etc.) with a volunteer mentor.
Our next training course begins on the 21st of November. Anyone who is interested in this opportunity can find out more information by contacting myself at rebecca@moveon.org.uk or by calling the office on 0131 558 3740.
Graphics students learn from the best in new Edinburgh College design partnership
Some of the city’s top design agencies have teamed up with Edinburgh College to show students the inner workings of the industry and help them become the next professional stars.
Six design agencies have signed up to a new partnership scheme with the college to give graphic design students industry experience and insight while they are still studying. Mentors from the agencies will coach students over the next year, giving them work placements, setting them briefs and advising on projects including work for real clients.
The agencies – Whitespace; Blonde; Teviot; Union Direct; Equator; and LEWIS – will in turn get access to the best graduates, working with them to ensure their skills and knowledge meet the needs of the industry and support its growth.
The new partnership builds on the success of the HND Visual Communication: Graphic Design course’s existing mentorship programme, which has been pairing students with mentors for the last seven years and now works with 13 agencies. The six agencies now signed up as official partners will provide further opportunities over and above mentoring so students can experience all sides of the industry, as well as sponsoring the students’ end-of-year show.
The project launched with an event at the college’s Granton Campus, where students got to meet their mentors for the first time.
Graphic design lecturer Helena Good said: “Bringing the design agencies on board as partners will be great for the students as it gives them new ways of getting the knowledge about the industry that they’ll need when they enter the workplace. Having access to professionals working to incredibly high standards in the latest practices, including digital, and getting their honest feedback and guidance is invaluable to their development.
“The mentoring project we started seven years ago has really taken off, and we’re lucky to have so many great companies so keen to be involved. Formalising these partnerships is a natural step and really embeds this project and the students themselves firmly within the city’s design community.”
As well as allotted time with mentors throughout the year, some partners will provide up to a month’s worth of work experience placements. They will also each set groups of students one-day ‘guerilla’ design projects, where mentors will turn up unannounced in the morning and set a design challenge to be completed in a day. Mentors also help students work on intensive one-week design projects working on real briefs from real clients, which in previous years have included Innis & Gunn, Edinburgh Zoo and GF Smith.
One of the mentors at partner Teviot, Kirsten Murray, who studied the HND at the college and graduated in 2007, said: “Whatever stage you are at in your education or career, having a mentor to support you, challenge you and ask you hard questions is invaluable. I have watched the mentoring programme go from strength to strength over the last five years. The success of the programme is clear when you see the quality of the ideas and the design work being produced by the students.
“As a former student of Edinburgh College, it means a lot to me to be able to give something back to the very place that kick started my career in design. The future of design in Scotland will soon be in the hands of these students. That’s why it’s so important that we help them to become industry-ready graduates.”
Student Alex De Sousa, 18, from Bonnyrigg, said: “This doesn’t happen anywhere else and it’s really exciting. It’s incredible that we get to spend time one to one with people with such great experience and it’s such a good opportunity.”
Gillian Grant, an account director at LEWIS, said: “The more you work with and get to know the students the more you can see that they are hungry to learn in all areas. There’s lots they can learn from an account management and project management perspective to complement the creative side and help them understand all sides of the industry. You can offer process-driven advice and recommendations on pitching, and demonstrate how all areas of an agency work together to achieve a goal.”
Do you want to build up your skills and help improve the community at the same time?
Why not apply for a placement opportunity with CAN (Community Action North)?
Interested? Want to find out more? Sending your idea, name and number to Julie Crawford – julie@mydg.org.uk or call 315 6405
£1.3m more to support young people into jobs
The Community Jobs Scotland scheme has received an additional £1.3 million from the Scottish Government to help more people with barriers to employment into jobs.
The funding will create 100 additional places that will support 50 early service leavers from the forces and 50 young people with convictions aged 25 to 29 to take up opportunities for up to 12 months.
The age range for vulnerable groups to access the programme will also be extended from 24 to 29.
Community Jobs Scotland is delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and has already received £6.1 million in 2015/16 to help young people into employment with voluntary sector organisations.
Fair Work Secretary Roseanna Cunningham made in the announcement while visiting Glenboig Neighbourhood House as part of Coatbridge cabinet activity. She said: “Community Jobs Scotland has played a significant role in helping thousands of people with barriers to enhance their skills and to progress to education, training or work.
“I am very pleased that this additional funding will allow us to support even more young people, including those with convictions and that are leaving the services early, develop the skills that they need. With youth unemployment levels at the lowest level since 2008 we are already delivering positive results for young people.
“We want to build on that and to continue to focus on those young people who need extra support in finding a job. Likewise, extending the age range for vulnerable groups will ensure that more people are able to benefit from opportunities in the third sector.
“While there are 82,000 fewer Scots unemployed since the peak of the recession in 2010, we must remain focused on helping everyone fulfil their potential in order to drive forward Scotland’s economic growth.”
SCVO Chief Executive Martin Sime said: “Today’s announcement will give young unemployed people, who are furthest away from the labour market, the opportunity to experience paid work and make a real difference to other people’s lives. We’re excited about working with Poppy Scotland to help early service leavers find work and about young people aged 25-29 with convictions or disabilities, care leavers and carers, being eligible to apply for Community Jobs Scotland for the first time.
“Many of these people have already been failed by the Work Programme, so it’s fantastic news that they will get the chance to do their bit in their community, earn a wage and develop new skills.”
Gary Gray, Head of Welfare Services, Poppy Scotland added: “Poppyscotland is delighted to be working in partnership with Community Jobs Scotland. Armed Forces veterans offer employers a unique and extremely valuable skill set, but the transition from the military to civilian workplace can be very challenging. Connecting those who are out of work with opportunities within the voluntary sector is a win-win.
“This Government funding will broaden the employment horizons for many veterans, offering them a much brighter future, and will also provide great value to organisations who play such a crucial role in supporting the disadvantaged and vulnerable in our society.”
Be Safe Around Dogs: free dog safety workshops
Hello,
My name is Rachel and I’m the Education and Community Officer for Dogs Trust in Edinburgh. My role is to provide FREE workshops that teach children, young people and families about responsibility and safety around dogs.
I am currently offering community groups fun and interactive workshops from our ‘Be Dog Smart’ safety initiative and I would like to take this opportunity to tell you more.
With nearly 9 million dogs in the UK, it is vital that all children and indeed adults too are educated and informed about interacting safely with them. Be Dog Smart workshops educates children on how to behave around dogs, how to meet a dog correctly and what to do if scared of dogs.
For more information please visit http://learnwithdogstrust.org.uk/free-learning-resources/Community-Education/be-dog-smart/index.html.
Workshops last approx. 45mins and suitable for age 5+ and for parents/guardians.
There is no cost and you may book as many as you like!
If you would like to arrange for me to visit your group, or simply require more information, please email me at rachel.bliss@dogstrust.org.uk or call 0792 065 8660.
