Hundreds of people attend third Employability Week
Hundreds of people have moved closer to finding new training and work opportunities, thanks to North Ayrshire Council’s Employability Week.
The special week offers residents the chance to find out more about life-changing work and training opportunities in a relaxed setting.
It featured a series of community events to help showcase services that are available through the Council and various partners, with information about job vacancies, new careers, training and volunteering made available.
The Council’s employability service’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme arranged Employability Week to help people explore opportunities that are available on their doorstep.
This was the third annual Employability Week, running from May 26 to 30, and key events were:
- A Modern Apprentice (MA) recruitment session where young people were able to talk to Council services recruiting for apprenticeships, find out about the job and get support to apply
- CEIS Ayrshire first birthday celebration at the Youth Hub in Stevenston Library. This offered an opportunity to find out about CEIS employment support programmes for those aged 16 to 24
- A family celebration day with games at the We Work For Families Parent Hub in the Frank Sweeney Centre for Enterprise in Ardrossan. Attendees could find out about the variety of support the WWFF team can offer to parents
- A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) jobs fair in Saltcoats Town Hall. This was an opportunity to meet local employers to find out about job vacancies and to speak with employment services for support and
- A BBQ and open day at Eglinton Community Gardens, Eglinton Park, Kilwinning, hosted by the Equal programme team. This offered people a chance to find out more about the Council’s supported employment service.
The MA event resulted in more than 280 young people applying for positions while at the DWP Jobs Fair almost 40 people filled in applications or arranged interviews.
Quote: Feedback from those who attended the various events included positive comments about the ranges of jobs on offer across different sectors, the warm welcome they received and how good it was to get an insight into a variety of opportunities that are available right here in North Ayrshire. Employers have said they enjoyed being able to make new contacts and find potential candidates for vacancies.
Quote from: Councillor Tony Gurney, Cabinet Member for Green Environment and Economy
The CEIS Ayrshire team was also busy welcoming people to the Youth Hub as it marked its first birthday. In the team’s first year, staff have provided support - including CV writing, interview preparation and job matching - to more than 1700 young people locally.
Councillor Gurney added: “If you would like to find out more about training and job opportunities, but were unable to make it along to Employability Week, I would encourage you to get in touch with our Employability team to see how they can help.”
To access any of the opportunities delivered by Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire please email employability@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
Published: 12 June 2025