Kibble Admin

OsKar’s is starting 2015 with a brand new look and will be unveiling its transformed showroom this coming Wednesday (14 January) between 9am and 4pm at its premises at 55 Clark St, Paisley.   The open invite will provide the perfect opportunity to find out more about the work of OsKar’s, part of the KibbleWorks group of social enterprises.

Operating in the heart of the community, OsKar’s offers two main services; furniture reuse, and property maintenance.  In doing this, it provides young people facing barriers to employment with the chance to gain new skills and experience as they move on to seek permanent employment.

OsKar’s manager, Karen Gilligan said: “These are very exciting times for the company as we’ve recently upgraded our showroom, have started up-cycling a whole range of furniture and we also have a new range of vintage furniture pieces.

“We’re inviting everyone, whether they are a business, community group or member of the public to come along on Wednesday to see our new showroom and the wide variety of household goods we have for sale.

“And as well as getting a cup of tea and some cake, people coming along might well leave with a real bargain.”

For further information, contact Karen on 0141 847 6626, visit the OsKar’s website or follow them on Facebook.

As a member of Glasgow Social Enterprise Network (GSEN), Kibble welcomed the chance to get involved and become a sponsor of the organisation’s first ever trade show. GSEN is a membership network for social enterprise leaders in Greater Glasgow, all sharing a common belief that social enterprise can transform the economic, environmental, social and cultural life of Glasgow.

Shortly before Christmas, The Briggait, a stunning historical building in the heart of the city, opened its doors to the public and businesses to host the free event. With over 30 exhibitors including The Experience, the event was well attended.  The Experience is a themed entertainment and events venue, housing Scotland’s only indoor electric adult and junior go-karting arena, and operates as a social enterprise under the KibbleWorks banner.  It will provide a minimum of 50 transitional jobs for young people aged 16+ annually and offer opportunities for vocational training and work experience.

Lynsey McLean, General Manager at The Experience said: “It’s a great idea to hold an event like this in Glasgow where all the different organisations can trade together and bring in members of the public.  A lot of people aren’t aware of what a social enterprise is and the quality of products and services offered so it’s really important to back events like this.”

The event was filmed throughout the day and comments were captured from those in attendance. View their feedback in the film below.

Kibble young people recently put their acting skills to the test when they starred in a couple of short films for CELCIS (Centre for Excellence for Looked After Children in Scotland). CELCIS aim to improve the experiences and life chances of children and young people who are looked after, their families, and those who have left care. Our talented bunch of young people were joined by Kibble staff to take part in a trailer promoting a free online CELCIS course on Caring For Vulnerable Children at Strathclyde University. Starting February next year, the six-week course is free to anyone who might be interested and will offer an insight into the approaches involved in caring for vulnerable children. To find out more about the course and to view the trailer visit the Future Learn website.

Feedback has been very positive and our young people impressed so much that additional footage from the first film was used to make a second insert highlighting important statistics for young people in care and some of the issues faced. We think our young people are stars in the making, check it out for yourself.

Download Ending for Kibble MP4 (13MB)

GAME of Thrones star Daniel Portman was very impressed by the panto staged by pupils and staff at Paisley’s Kibble Education and Care Centre…oh yes he was!

The actor who plays Podrick Payne in the cult hit TV show was a guest at the panto, called The Big Freeze performed in Kibble’s Safe Centre.  And after the show, he presented certificates to the young people who had been involved both on stage and behind the scenes.

The panto told the story of the wicked Ice Queen who keeps the Earth frozen by using a giant Ice Blaster gun and only relents by the heart-warming story of true love between the hero, Jack and Princess Wantalot.

Daniel Portman regularly helps out with drama coaching at Kibble, as his former drama teacher at the then Reid Kerr College is Gavin Sinclair, now Kibble’s Creative Arts Development Officer.  After the performance Daniel said: “The show was brilliant and like all the other performances at Kibble there was a great amount of talent and enthusiasm to be seen on stage.

“This kind of performing is also a great confidence booster for the young people at Kibble.”

Gavin Sinclair, who played the part of Gaz in the panto said: “The young people and staff who took part put in a huge amount of work to make this happen.

“The room where the panto was staged was packed and the people watching were a typical panto audience cheering and booing in all the right places.

“The reaction would have given the young people a huge boost to their self-esteem.”

CARE worker Kathleen Quinn was listening to the radio on her way into work when she heard a harrowing story about youngsters suffering from a genetic skin condition.

Kathleen then mentioned the story to two pupils at Kibble Education and Care Centre – DV, 15 and 16-year-old and JA – who immediately decided they wanted to raise money for the DEBRA charity who help children suffering from Epidermolysis Bullosa.

The pupils organised a fundraising Helping Hands Halloween Party at Kibble’s Paisley campus and now they have presented a cheque for £412.94p to DEBRA.

Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) is a condition that causes children to have extremely fragile skin causing blisters and tears at the slightest touch.

There is no known cure and EB can be fatal for infants and even in its least severe form, can still cause lifelong disability and pain.

Kathleen, a child and youth care worker, at Kibble said: “As soon as DV and JA heard about the condition they wanted to do something to help the unfortunate victims of EB.

“When they started organising the fundraising event the support they got from other pupils and staff was phenomenal.

“The young people had great fun and achieved a sense of pride raising money for such a good cause.

“It was a privilege to have been involved with so many passionate, caring and committed staff and young people who came together to support the DEBRA charity.”

Jaye Hamilton, DEBRA’s regional fundraising manager in Scotland said: “It was amazing that all this happened after hearing about EB and DEBRA on the radio.

“It was great how DV and JA pulled it all together and they showed a lot of sympathy for the victims of this terrible condition.”

With less than a week to go, Kibble’s contribution to the CELCIS Conference on 8 October in Perth Concert Hall is shaping up nicely.

The Kibble band will be playing at lunchtime providing some light entertainment; art work from the open school and safe centre will be on display as well as arts and crafts. On top of that, the young people have been working with staff to provide little treats, which will be nicely packaged and branded. There will also be two joint theatrical presentations in partnership with the Who Cares? team.

Everyone has been working hard to pull all this together for the event and CELCIS are very much looking forward to our input on the day!

The conference explores a question at the heart of our care system: how can we ensure looked after children and care leavers feel part of a nurturing family?

Present at the conference will be;

• Professor Alexis Jay who is the conference chair and was previously the Chief Social Work Adviser to the Scottish Government
• Dr Tony Bates, Founding Director of Headstrong (The Irish National Centre for Youth Mental Health)
• Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Patron of the Reader Organisation and Professor of Reading at Liverpool Hope University

Details on how to book are available on the CELCIS website.

AN appeal has been launched for information about what it was like to work in the former Rolls Royce aero engine factory, in Hillington, Renfrewshire.

KibbleWorks – the social enterprise hub and job training wing of Paisley’s Kibble Education and Care Centre – is transforming part of the former factory into a leisure, employment training and events venue called The Experience.

And the team behind the new venture want to pay tribute to the former workers – particularly during the Second World War when thousands of Merlin engines were manufactured for famous fighter planes like the Spitfire and Hurricane.

They plan to create a visual timeline of the factory, which will soon become Scotland’s first indoor electric go-kart arena creating 30 new jobs and giving vital employment training to out-of-work young people between the ages of 16 and 24.

The Experience will be housed in 66,000 square feet of former factory space at Edison Street, Montrose Avenue and Lothian Street, Hillington. The venue is presently under construction inside the factory and is due to open by the end of this year.

Now, Amy Johnston, Kibble’s social history assistant is asking people to contact her with their memories of working there and to let her see any artefacts from the factory, which produced 23,500 Merlin engines during the war years.

She explains: “The factory space where The Experience is going to be has an incredible history and the people who worked there played a major part in the war effort.

“We want to hear people’s memories of that time, as well as stories from later years in the decades after the war.

“I appreciate that people still living and who worked at Rolls Royce making Merlin engines during the Second World War would now be in their late eighties or nineties.

“But we’re also hoping that their offspring may remember their parents talking about life in the factory and we’d love to hear these stories as well.”

Amy added: “One of most interesting things about the factory making these engines for fighter planes that played such an important role in the Second World War is that the majority of the workforce were women.

“And they twice took strike action to win equal pay with men for doing the same jobs.

“I hope people who have memories – either first or second hand – will get in touch because we have plans to create a timeline and mini-museum at The Experience so people will know the history of where they are visiting.”

Anyone who can help Amy with information or artefacts from the Rolls Royce factory should email her at amy.johnston@kibble.org or phone her on 0141 847 6614.