Award is just the job for Kibble duo

A year ago Michelle McAughey and Scott Earl were unemployed and picking up their dole money.

But now after getting full-time jobs, they’ve just picked up a national award for their work with the Kibble Education and Care Centre, in Paisley.

Michelle, 22, and 23-year-old Scott completed Kibble’s employment training programme and impressed staff there so much, they were offered full-time jobs as marketing assistants.

Their work promoting Kibble’s Project OsKar recycling project won them the PR Campaign of the Year, at the Scottish Green Awards.

The Kibble programme for unemployed 18 to 24-year-olds – supported by the Future Jobs Fund and Renfrewshire Council – provided training and work experience for young people who found it difficult getting a job.

Kibble is the largest multi-service centre in the UK and Scotland's specialist centre for young people at risk.
But it has been expanding its work into employment training for unemployed young people up to the age of 24 and the organisation aims to continue its success after it became part of the Scottish government’s new Community Jobs Scotland Programme.

During Kibble’s previous employment training programme, 117 local young people were offered work in construction, marketing, events, administration, community gardening, recycling, car mechanics, child and youth care, classroom support work, catering, maintenance/trades, information technology and domestic appliance repair.

Michelle, from Paisley said: “Coming to Kibble has given me back my confidence. I had lost confidence because I couldn’t get a job and was unemployed for such a long time.

“The Kibble training programme opened the door to me getting a job as a marketing assistant. If it wasn’t for the training programme, I would probably be still on the dole.

“It means a lot to have a job. Nobody likes being unemployed and I didn’t feel useful when I wasn’t working.

“Now I feel I can contribute something and I am useful to someone by putting my skills to good use.”

Scott, from Renfrew, who has an Honours Degree in Software Engineering, said: “I was unemployed for nearly a year when I left university. It’s very difficult to find a job and if it wasn’t for the training programme at Kibble, I don’t know what I would be doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if I would still be on the dole.

“Like Michelle, having a job certainly has improved my confidence and Kibble has given me more skills and just as importantly, work experience – that’s something you can’t get at university or if you are unemployed.

“Now that I’m earning a wage I was able to take driving lessons, pass my test and even buy a car. That’s made a big difference to me.”

New media officer and trainer, at Kibble, Claire Ross said: “I have seen Michelle and Scott develop a great deal since they came on the training programme and then get a job at Kibble – they have come on leaps and bounds.

“We gave Michelle and Scott full-time jobs because of the skills they had and further developed while they were on the training programme and how well they interacted with colleagues.

“Others who have come on to the training programme have also gone on to find full-time jobs and it’s been amazing the change I’ve seen in some of the young people.

“The training programme gives them a boost and brings out the skills the young people didn’t realise they had. And we can measure how they are improving, as we review their progress every month.

“It’s also good for Kibble and other employers that we are better preparing young people for work. Michelle and Scott are good examples of this as Kibble has found two good people who are providing the skills and abilities the organisation needs.”
 

Link to Social Enterprise Live website article.