Kibble Admin

Posted: January 16, 2024

Housekeeper Ryan plays an essential role at Kibble as his cooking and cleaning skills, paired with his fun personality, bring a huge amount of value to Forest View and the residential children’s house where he works.

Kibble is currently recruiting for a Housekeeper and who better to describe what the role entails than existing Housekeeper Ryan. He explains his responsibilities are to maintain high cleanliness levels within the house, oversee laundry and linen as well as cook with guidance from Kibble’s Catering Supervisor.

Watch Ryan’s video as he talks us through the housekeeping role. Ryan has a love of cooking and shares that his cooking skills have further expanded since he joined Kibble.

About Kibble’s Housekeeper Job

As a Housekeeper, you are an extremely valuable helping hand in caring for young people. You are part of how we make the house a safe, clean and happy place to be. By taking care of the house, it’s cosy and somewhere we want to spend time. The smell of washed and dried clothes and bedding makes everyone feel warm and settled.

The most important trait to have as a Housekeeper is a sense of humour – also a positive attitude and flexibility.
Housekeeper Ryan

The residential children’s house belongs to the young people who live there and it’s important that you’re friendly and have a laugh. We’re looking for an outgoing and cheery individual with catering and cleaning experience. An SVQ Level 1 in Housekeeping or an SVQ Level 1 in Food Preparation and Cookery would be desirable, as would a driving license.

As a growing children’s charity, Kibble recruits for roles across all locations including jobs in Paisley, Lochwinnoch, Inverkip, Glasgow, Hamilton and more. This is your chance to join us in giving young people a chance at life.

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Posted: January 3, 2024

On Friday 8^th December, two young people from Kibble were invited along to a festive celebration with the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, at his home in Bute House.

The special celebration was an opportunity for over 40 care experienced young people from across Scotland to meet with the First Minister and Natalie Don, MSP and Minister for Children, Young People & Keeping the Promise, to discuss some of the changes they would like to see.

After the canopes were served, it was time to gather around the table for a mini-cabinet meeting with the First Minister to explore some of the issues affecting young people today.

The question was posed “If you were going to be a Government Minister for the day, what changes would you make?”. This opened up valuable discussions around policies young people would like to change and legislation they would like to implement. There were questions posed around social housing, employability opportunities and more.

It was a really exciting day for young people, particularly with the festive lights and bustling Christmas market nearby. We’d like to thank the First Minister, Natalie Don MSP and Who Cares? Scotland for opening this opportunity and making young people feel both welcome and heard.

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On Friday 8^th December, young people at Goudie Academy held their annual Christmas Fayre, raising a phenomenal £1135 for a local food bank run by Ferguslie resident’s group Darkwood Crew. But this was only just the beginning, as Kibble agreed to match the total amount raised to support families facing food poverty this winter. With over £2270 raised, young people have begun buying items that will prove to be a lifeline for many families at Christmas.

The festive event was the accumulation of months of hard work from pupils who crafted a series of handmade gifts from jolly snowmen, colourful charm bracelets, scented wax melts, knitted Christmas decorations, reindeer food and wooden Santa’s. To add to the festive cheer, there was a face painter, a raffle, and a few chocolate covered faces thanks to the marshmallow and chocolate fountain stand. The event also coincided with Christmas Jumper day which helped to add to the festive buzz across Kibble.

The Darkwood Crew provide a number of community initiatives in the Ferguslie area that aim to address historical social problems in the community including health inequalities, long term unemployment, poor educational attainment, poor mental health, social exclusion & isolation. This includes a weekly community market and environmental projects including litter picking and garden maintenance. The money raised from Kibble’s fundraising efforts will go towards buying food for the community market to help families needing a helping hand to put food on the table this winter.

The Darkwood Crew is an organisation which is held closely in the hearts of young people and staff at Kibble, with Goudie Academy pupils donating £3000 last year thanks to the Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI).

A huge well done to all the pupils and staff involved and we hope this donation will make life a little easier for local families this winter.

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Kibble’s Goudie Academy has its own hair and beauty salon for pupils to learn practical skills in a subject they enjoy. Young people invited all at Kibble to be pampered with beauty treatments for the small cost of a charity donation. The aspiring Hair and Beauty Therapists excelled at the treatments with everyone in awe at the professionalism and confidence of the pupils.

As the Christmas holidays were vastly approaching, pupils decided the festive period was a time that people wanted to look their best. Each pupil agreed, “it tends to be a busy time filled with plans”. As hair and beauty students, they knew they had the expertise to help with any last-minute beauty appointments and would thoroughly enjoy the chance to practice and act as real-life salon owners. The genuine practice would contribute to their coursework and take them a step closer to qualifying. It was decided and all across Kibble were invited to book in for a range of beauty treatments.

Young students, with help from their teachers, were determined to impress and show-off what they had learned over the past year, and their promise to ‘WOW’ was delivered as the ‘clients’ were delighted with their beautiful results.

A full range of beauty treatments were offered, including: a hair wash and blow-dry, hair-styled up or in a curl, gents’ hair-cut, gel nails, eyebrow tinting, waxing and sparkly hair extensions. As soon as the salon opened at 10am, it was bustling with people deciding what treatment to go for; young people chatting away to those in their beauty chair and coffees being made. The hair and beauty classroom truly transformed into a busy, friendly and fun beauty salon.

One young person had perfected putting in sparkly hair extensions and everyone who seen the finished result got in the queue to also have glitter be put in their hair for their Christmas and New Year parties.

A lot of practice and effort had gone into learning how to do this glamorous beauty treatment as the hairdresser-in-training applied great concentration and precision while still smiling and chatting – making the tricky treatment appear effortless. The nail art was particularly impressive too with Santa hats, glitter and the classic French manicure being popular choices.

“I can see myself in future having a hair and beauty salon – I also love horses so the dream is to have my own stables and go horse-riding in-between my beauty appointments”.
Young pupil who is a hairdresser-in-training

Everyone who left the salon, walked away with a smile as the group of pupils’, teachers and fellow colleagues had a wonderful time getting ready for the Christmas holidays.

Kibble prides itself on providing young learners with a wide breadth of subject choices, a varied curriculum and a focus on practical skills while still following Curriculum for Excellence. The tailored education creates a supportive learning environment, which inspires young people to further explore their passion and genuine interests, motivating young people to succeed and build potential future career paths. Entrepreneurial spirit is also encouraged all the way up to The Skills Academy.

Posted: December 29, 2023

Lianna is a Service Manager within one of our residential children’s houses based in the lively town of Paisley and having built a career at Kibble spanning over 14 years she has happily spent many Christmases with young people. Lianna shares that every Christmas is different as she tries to make the day personal to each individual.

This year, Lianna dressed up as Rudolph and visited young people alongside the Grinch and Santa’s Elf. No matter what an adult’s role at Kibble, a residential childcare worker, Senior Practitioner, Service Manager or other, everyone wholeheartedly joins in and creates fun festive memories to make children and young people all smile.

Lianna expresses her joy of being part of young peoples’ Christmas memories: “We have the privilege of providing care and love for young people all year-round and this can mean working on Christmas Day, which personally I very much enjoy. Together, us adults do our best to make this a positive time while being mindful that the festive period can look and feel very different to each young person. Many young people can find the busy period a difficult time. However, our special celebration is using Christmas as an excuse to get everyone around the table together, having a laugh.

“My belief is that Christmas is made special by all the adults at Kibble going above and beyond to make sure young people feel loved and are given experiences that will last a lifetime.

“I hope in the years to come; young people fondly remember the Christmases spent here.”

Christmas 2023 has been made particularly memorable by a young person who decided to fundraise for Shelter Scotland who support those living on the streets this winter. The young person encouraged all across the organisation to donate clothing, toiletries and gifts as well as selling home-made cakes every Friday in December. The selflessness and caring nature of this young person is an example of true Christmas spirit.

Lianna was in awe at the young person’s consideration for others: “The genuine compassion and empathy shown towards others by this amazing girl has been emotional and heart-warming to see. She has worked tirelessly to make Christmas a wee bit better for others”

It is clear that at Kibble, the true meaning of Christmas is exemplified by adults and young people alike.

Join Us

In the new year, when people feel motivated to start a new career and potentially begin to search for new jobs in Paisley, Glasgow and beyond, it is the hope that caring, kind-hearted and dedicated individuals discover the various careers at Kibble that are available. We recruit for those with the drive to make a difference and promise you will feel fulfilled in your new role. Let Lianna inspire you to visit our vacancies and join us in time for next Christmas.

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Posted: December 28, 2023

Young people attending The Skills Academy, who are working towards their Bike Maintenance qualifications, opened a Bike Shop for Kibble staff to shop sustainably and purchase affordable, upcycled bikes. Kibble’s own Health and Safety Manager, Uche decided to play the part of Santa’s elf and help families with young children receive new bikes.

Read on to find out more.

Kibble’s Health and Safety Manager, Uche heard about The Skills Academy Bike Shop and was impressed by the mint condition and fair price of the bikes on sale. The repairs carried out by the young learners were completed to the highest standard. Uche decided to purchase some and facilitate access for others as a gift for families who she attends church within Drumchapel. Uche’s heart-warming gesture led to the church and more families who worship there, also express their interest in shopping for new bikes at The Skills Academy. A total of six adult, four junior and two kids’ bikes were purchased from The Skills Academy in this elf-facilitated transaction.

Uche was more than happy to coordinate between The Skills Academy and the church. She helped arrange for bikes to be delivered by Kibble to the church hall for collection and took photos for others to browse the sizes and colours of the bikes for sale. In Hillington, young people were repairing and maintaining kids’, junior and adults’ bikes therefore plenty of choice was available.

The fun of cycling is a sport an entire family can enjoy together. Uche herself understands the joy of cycling through scenic routes and is delighted to have played a part in putting families in touch with The Skills Academy to purchase affordable bikes. Instead of investing in brand new bikes for full families, while kids are still growing, The Skills Academy gave many the option of shopping for high quality bikes in an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective way.

A young person acted as a Marketing Assistant to Kibble’s own Marketing and Communications team and helped suggest ideas on how to promote the bikes to all who work at Kibble. It was arranged for Santa to fly in and quality check the bikes. The aspiring young marketer shared, “It was fun helping out on the photo shoot to sell our upcycled bikes. I got to work with Kibble’s Communications team and could see the thought that goes into the process. It has made me consider learning more about marketing.”

The enterprise was a success with over 27 bikes sold this Christmas.

Posted: December 27, 2023

Roisin, who is a Service Manager within one of our children’s residential houses, shares Christmas Day plans and one young person explains what made Christmas special.

Roisin has worked at Kibble for over 10 years and understands Christmas Day is an important date in the calendar and has always been determined to make it a memorable celebration for both the adults and kids.

The team at Kibble understand they’re essential workers and that their careers at Kibble involve alternating between working Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. It’s a happy time and many across Kibble who aren’t working embrace the happy day and come along to join in.

Roisin shares Christmas preparations start as early as September: “We alternate who is working at Christmas each year but even if we have the day off, most of us pop in for a cup of tea and catch-up anyway. We like to have the chance to wish one another Merry Christmas as we spend so long planning the day.

“We start talking about Christmas in September, both adults and kids plan how to make the day special. As there’s a big build-up to the day and so much time has been spent chatting about the celebrations, we all want to spend Christmas morning together.

“The team try and go above and beyond for young people at Christmas. It’s not just one day we plan for, instead, we plan a huge build-up with plenty of fun activities and events to get us in the festive spirit and bring the magic of Christmas.

“Our traditions include decorating the Christmas tree and putting up decorations in our cosy Christmas jammies and making our own party crackers. We baked a Maltesers Christmas cake too. There are outings to the Panto, Christmas markets and ice-skating. This year, we went to see Wicked at the Edinburgh Playhouse, which everyone was in awe at – the costumes, music and the city was lovely at this time of year.”

One young person shared: “I can see the adults around me here are happy when I’m happy. They know me so well and make Christmas personal to me, they have remembered what I’ve said throughout the year when making plans on how we’ll celebrate and I can tell they’ve chosen my presents, knowing they’ve thought of me with those wee extras make Christmas special to me.”

Roisin said: “Young people can picture what Christmas Day will be like and are happy to wake-up here before some visit their families. My own wee dog, Suki is part of the team and her name is even on the Christmas tree. Suki gave everyone cuddles on Christmas morning. As soon as young people woke-up, we opened presents and sat together, laughing. Our living room and kitchen is open plan so there is always plenty of room for everyone to join in and chat.”

Posted: November 29, 2023

On Tuesday 28^th November, we welcomed BUD to our Paisley Campus to support Goudie Academy pupils to learn the story of how the poppy came to be a symbol of remembrance. Run by Poppy Scotland, the interactive mobile museum travels across Scotland to share their archive, veterans’ stories and information on the poppy’s heritage.

In groups, pupils and teachers visited the BUD library where they were welcomed by Poppy Scotland staff to explore the exhibition, hear more about Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory and the historic poppy appeal. Pupils also got to make their own poppies using the special apparatus, with instructions led by interactive projections. It’s fair to same that the pupils got the knack a bit quicker than the staff!

In addition to learning about the history and heritage of the poppy, pupils also made special poppy wreaths made from recycled egg boxes which were painted red and displayed at special Remembrance Day assemblies at our schools.

To raise funds for the Poppy Appeal Scotland Charity, pupils took part in ‘The Big Poppy Bounce’, a sponsored space hop, and sold poppies across Kibble.

Poppy Scotland provides life-changing support to those who have served, those still serving and their families. Their poppy was created 100 years ago, to provide vital support to the Armed Forces community which it still does today. It is also a symbol of remembrance, helping us to learn from the past to positively impact our future.

We would like to give thanks for BUD and Poppy Scotland for coming to visit us and look forward to following their journey which is helping to inform the nation of the great, ongoing work of the charity.

Posted: November 27, 2023

Young people qualifying in Bike Maintenance have refurbished bikes to an impeccable condition. The bicycles are now on sale at affordable prices for Kibble employees who are shopping for Christmas gifts. The bike shop operates as a social enterprise with all profits reinvested into the entrepreneurial project.

The Skills Academy is Kibble’s education and training centre based in Hillington Park and St Mirren Football Club. Young people who are enrolled develop skills, gain qualifications and complete valuable work experience, which all help to build employability skills.

Our prospectus promises young people a varied curriculum with practical and entrepreneurial projects. Recent achievements have ranged from construction students renovating St Mirren’s training complex and refurbishing SMISA stadium’s hospitality entrance to a young aspiring car mechanic mentoring younger pupils interested in engineering too. The Bike Maintenance students have been working towards their SCQF qualification and the prestigious Saltire award while maintaining the bike fleet within Kibble’s PE Department and upcycling old bikes. The supportive learning environment helps young people feel a sense of achievement, boosting their confidence levels.

Entrepreneurial skills are an important factor of The Skills Academy. Our aim is for young people to learn the value in possessing knowledge and expertise in a life-long skill.

By students opening their own Bike Shop to our workforce, young people can develop an aptitude for business, finance, customer service and leadership. Young people are also appealing for staff to donate any unused bikes that are in repairable condition.

The recent initiative is part of The Skills Academy’s purpose to equip young people with qualifications and practical experience that can help them build a potential career and look towards a bright future.

Learn more about The Skills Academy

Posted: November 23, 2023

This summer, Connor, a young person at Kibble realised his dream to travel to the USA and work at the elusive Camp America. The journey to get there was long, and at times arduous, but his unwavering commitment to working at one of the world’s most famous children’s camps, meant he gave his all and had the time of his life.

Connor had always wanted to travel to the States, and inspired by others in his friend’s circle who had worked a summer at Camp America, decided to set this on his horizons. The decision to go was bourne out of a conversation he had with family support worker, Lisa, whose son had just returned from the trip. Lisa encouraged Connor to look into it further and decide if he wanted to take the idea forward. This was a big step for Connor, who at the age of 21, had never travelled without his foster carers and described himself as a “home bird”. After reviewing the website, he knew this was for him and so applied on line to take part in the interview process.

He successfully got through the first stage of the process and an initial call with the team at Camp America identified that Connor would make a good swimming instructor due to his interest and abilities. To ensure this was right for Connor, he was set a physical training programme by the Camp which included ten weeks of arduous training to build up his stamina in the water. Connor could climb a hill like a mountain goat according to Lisa, however he needed to work on his strength and endurance. So committed to his goal, Connor set the alarm for 7am three times a week to go swimming before college where he swam 30 lengths each time and built his strength at treading water. Lisa went along with Connor, and often Lisa’s son would join them too for added peer support and encouragement.

After ten weeks of training, Connor had passed the interview process with flying colours and was set for a summer of adventure in Lake Connecticut, Massachusetts.

But there was no time to rest, next stop Connor had to travel to the American Embassy in London to attain his Visa and complete all necessary checks. He travelled to London with Lisa, who ensured that he was able to navigate his way there, as well as around the city. This was important as Connor would be required to do this on his own when he eventually travelled to the States.

On the 5^th of June, the big day finally arrived for Connor to travel to the States and begin his Camp America Adventure. He was both nervous and excited, but had contacted another young person travelling too which made the experience a little less daunting. He waved cheerio to his foster family and held his head high as he stepped through the airport gates. Next stop… New York!

Connor spent two days in the Big Apple and took in the sights and sounds of the city! He saw the Statue of Liberty looming in the distance, the bright lights of Broadway and the famous Central Park. After a whistle wind tour, he boarded the train to the camp at Lake Connecticut alongside a number of other excited camp mates.

On arrival, they made their way to their tents to unpack their things and get to know the others at the camp. After a long day, everyone wearily went to their bunkbeds for some much-needed sleep before further training the following day. The training involved a swim test, and three days of lifeguard training which included diving for weights, and collecting hoops to sustain holding his breath. He also had to do CPR training and a theory test. Safe to say Connor passed the test and was ready to welcome a group of very excited children to experience their first summer at Camp America.

With the camp in full swing, Connor was primarily in the vital role of life guard by the lake. However, he also took part in other areas of the camp including creative arts, boating, swim lessons, climbing and mountain biking. He worked six days a week, with one evening off where he could catch up on washings and other duties. He excelled in everything that he did and no task was too much! He made great connections with the kids and staff alike.

“We all looked out for each other and had each other’s back. The kids were amazing and used to shout King Connor. We had so much fun and I have made friends for life.”

At the end of 11 weeks, it was time to head back home. The summer in Camp America had been life-changing for Connor and he was so proud of what he had achieved. He stepped out of his comfort zone and immersed himself in a new country, culture and group of people. The experience can’t be underestimated and Connor has made memories that will stay with him his whole life.

When he touched down in Glasgow, he couldn’t wait to share his stories with his foster family and Lisa who were eagerly waiting with banners to welcome him home. With America ticked off the list, the world is his oyster, and with a love for music and travel we can’t wait to hear where Connor’s next adventure will take him.