Council's inaugural awards ceremony showcases outstanding Employability support that is available
Posted on 8 Nov 2023
Hard-working and ambitious people being supported by North Ayrshire Council’s Employability team have reaped the rewards for their dedication.
The Council hosted its first ever Employability Awards to shine a light on trainees, volunteers, Modern Apprentices and people gaining skills, confidence, work experience to prepare to progress to the world of work.
The event at Saltcoats Town Hall was a resounding success as Council Leader Marie Burns and Provost Anthea Dickson handed over awards in eight categories.
The awards were arranged by the Council’s employability service’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme.
Opening the proceedings, Councillor Burns said: “The Employability team works with a diverse range of partner organisations to deliver training programmes, apprenticeships, confidence building and other support to help people access work for the first time, return to work or take the next step in their career.
“There were lots of fantastic nominations received across all categories, which made the finalist selection incredibly difficult. I would like to congratulate everyone who was nominated – and indeed the winners. Everyone should be very proud of the positive steps they have taken.”
The categories and winners are:
Progression into Work - Yaa Foriwaah Kusi
Yaa moved to Scotland from Ghana in January where she was employed as a Nursery Teacher in a Ghanian school. She is currently studying for a master’s degree in education studies at Strathclyde University. She juggles her studies with raising her daughter and working. Yaa completed a Care Academy programme, delivered by CEiS Ayrshire, which led her to securing employment with the Health and Social Care Partnership’s Care at Home Team.
Outstanding Team Member - William Maxwell
Father-of-two, Billy joined the team at West Coast Furniture Bank, Stevenston, at the beginning of last year following a range of employability support delivered by CEiS Ayrshire. He started as a van driver and then progressed to be the warehouse operative and now he is the Team Leader. Billy delivers household items to clients, referred by partner agencies, free of charge, which helps to improve lives for to up to ten families every week. His employer has reported receiving letters, emails and phone calls about his quality of service and how he makes clients feel at ease, are a weekly occurrence.
Outstanding Effort - John Johnstone
John started his journey into employment as a volunteer with the Equal Programme and was happy volunteering but was reluctant to tackle a traineeship qualification as he struggled with literacy. Despite having autism and ADHD, he has overcome significant barriers, shown a great work ethic and has done himself proud. The team at the Equal Programme supported John with interview techniques training and provided ongoing support to apply and progress to employment. He secured a full-time warehouse position with Amer Sports in Irvine and is really enjoying his new job.
Placement Champion - Mark Campbell
Mark started as a relief janitor at St Winning’s Primary, Kilwinning, and is now an integral part of the school. No job is too small or too challenging for him - he is ALWAYS happy to oblige. Mark joins in in all games - holding the ropes and skipping, refereeing football games, helping and guiding the children to shoot goals with the basketball hoops, the task list is endless. He gives up his free time out of school hours to cover events and he is just a great asset to the school.
Volunteer of the Year - Donna Shedden
Donna has excelled in three volunteer roles over the past year with Eglinton Community Garden, the Woodwork Workshop at Eglinton and the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service’s Community Action Team, which promotes fire safety to vulnerable people at home and in the community. Her dedication to volunteering has helped her achieve to achieve her dream job of being a swimming instructor.
Modern Apprentice of the Year - Abby Anderson
Abby joined the Dirrans Centre as a Modern Apprentice when she was aged 17 to complete her SVQ2 – with very little knowledge or experience of Health and Social Care. She meets service users’ needs to a high standard, is a great communicator, manages social media platforms, provides per support and acts as a mentor to other MAs on study days. Abby returned to the centre to complete her SVQ3 in August and the feedback from service users is glowing.
Achiever of the Year - Anne Irvine
Busy mum-of-three, Anne, left school without many qualifications and recently decided she would like to gain a mental health qualification. Anne was supported by We Work For Families to find a suitable course and get funding to pursue this dream while continuing to work in retail. She enjoyed studying so much that she completed a second course in Leadership and Management which gave her a confidence boost, she was named Employee of the Year and is now a supervisor in the local store she works in.
Young Achiever of the Year - Paul Grant
Paul suffered from severe anxiety when he joined the Equal Programme in January 2020. He started volunteering at the Equal Garden project in Eglinton Park, he started to flourish and learn new skills, before starting a six-month traineeship and attaining a Caledonian Horticultural Society Grow and Learn qualification. With encouragement, he started a pre-apprenticeship Automotive and Electrical Vehicle course at college – and still hopes to be a mechanic.
In her closing remarks, Provost Dickson said: “Congratulations to all the winners and finalists. You have all been on an inspiring Employability journey and I want to commend you on your success.
“To be nominated is a fantastic acknowledgement of all you have achieved, and you should be extremely proud.
“I’d like to thank our Employability team and our working partners for supporting the people here today, and many others, in their Employability journey.”
North Ayrshire Council’s Employability Service delivers a range of support through its Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme.
Contracted partners delivering Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire include We Work for Families and CEIS Ayrshire, who all contribute to delivering a wide range of support to help individuals prepare and progress into employment.
To access any of the opportunities delivered by North Ayrshire Council’s Employability Service Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire please email employability@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
You can also find out how the team at our Employability Hub can help you with everything from CVs and application forms to college courses and interview techniques here: https://tinyurl.com/4wvvzubd