Employability programmes put parents on path to success

Parents are being supported into valuable work experience and jobs through North Ayrshire Council.

Council initiatives are helping to make life better for families by finding and creating sustainable employment opportunities.

The council’s Employability Service delivers a range of support and opportunities through the Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme.

One of these opportunities is the Skills for Life programme, which supports parents into paid work experience, usually leading to sustainable employment with the council.

Helene Hainey lost her job in 2023 due to redundancy and registered with CEIS Ayrshire – a social enterprise that offers employability support through skills training and other services – for help with creating a CV, interview preparation and confidence-building.

Through CEIS, she was referred to the Skills for Life Clerical programme and went on to:

• complete a five-week PC Passport college course, gaining skills in Microsoft Office
• participate in workshops on teamwork and confidence building and
• secure a 26-week paid placement with North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s (HSCP) Families for Children Service, working towards an SVQ Level 2 in Business Administration.

Helene’s Skills for Life keyworker helped update her CV, identified job vacancies and helped her to prepare for interviews. This enabled her to secure her current role as Programme Delivery Support Officer for Modern Apprenticeships within the council’s Employability team.

Helene said: “The increase in family income has taken away the constant financial worry of waiting on my next Universal Credit Payment.

“I can now plan, and go, more outings with my son and even plan a girls’ holiday.

“I am continuing with my driving lessons, and I am hoping to pass my test and get a car on the road”.

Over the past year, the successful Skills for Life programme has seen 80 parents participating and 75 per cent of them have stayed in employment with various employers.

The Employability team’s Parental Employment Programme (PEP) is a Third Sector partnership that offers job-seeking parents paid, mentored six-month placements.

The collaboration helps get parents on the road to workplace success and John MacLeod, who has five-year-old daughter, recently completed the programme.

John had received Universal Credit for a number of years and wanted a job that would fit in with his daughter’s school hours and childcare needs.

Through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), he applied for a six-month PEP placement as an Employability Resourcer with CEIS Ayrshire to help other people relying on benefits to improve their job search skills.

Before applying for the role, he registered with We Work for Families (WWFF) – which is a council-funded service in Ardrossan that supports parents into work. The staff there gave him pre-employment training, budgeting support, better-off-in-work calculations and assistance with his travel costs to and from work.

During the placement, he was supported with tasks including guidance on CV updates and job searching.

John explained: “The support felt personal and genuine. It wasn’t just about completing tasks — it was about helping me succeed.

“I’m less stressed now, I have more financial stability and I enjoy more quality time with my daughter.”

The six-month placement led to a job offer from CEIS and John has now completed a Lean Management course and leads a systems improvement project aimed at modernising work practices.

John would encourage other parents to contact the Council’s Employability team for advice on their next steps, adding: “It might feel daunting, especially if you've been out of work for a while—but it’s worth it. You learn, you grow and you might just surprise yourself!”

Published: 20 August 2025