News

One of Kibble’s social enterprises has won the ‘Best Visitor Attraction’ at this year’s Scottish Thistle Awards. The Renfrewshire venue beat a host of other tourist hotspots from across the West of Scotland to be crowned the winners and will now compete with the other regional winners for a national Thistle Award next March.

Judges commented on the exceptional customer service as well as range of activities at the Renfrewshire venue. In addition to go-karting, customers can also access a fully equipped sensory room, Laser Tag, conference rooms, children’s party facilities and a restaurant.

Speaking after winning the title, General Manager at The Experience Lynsey McLean said:

“I want to thank all of our customers and staff team who have helped make this possible. What many of our visitors don’t realise is that we work extremely hard to provide employment and training opportunities to local youngsters in Renfrewshire.

“As a social enterprise, all our profits are reinvested into the business so when they use The Experience, they are helping create these opportunities.

“To win ‘Best Visitor Attraction’ is amazing and is down to the hard work of The Experience team. They can rightly and proudly be officially described as the best in the West.”

Described as the Oscars of the tourism industry, the Scottish Thistle Awards have been running for over 20 years. They recognise the excellence in a growing tourist market estimated to be worth over £11bn to the Scottish economy per year.

Rebecca Brooks, Chair of the Scottish Thistle Awards Industry Panel and VisitScotland Board member, said:

“A huge congratulations to all of the winners at the West Regional Final and I wish them the best of luck as they move forward to represent the region in the Scottish Thistle Awards National Final next year.

“It has been another record-breaking year of entries for the Scottish Thistle Awards and winners, and indeed all finalists, should be very proud of their achievements in such a highly competitive field.

“Tourism is the heartbeat of the Scottish economy – supporting communities and creating jobs throughout the year in every corner of the country.

“The Scottish tourism industry and hospitality sector prides itself on delivering a rewarding experience for visitors and success here is both recognition of excellence and innovation, and a sign of quality. It is their warm welcome, embodying the Spirit of Scotland, which makes the country a world-class destination for visitors.”

Paisley’s Kibble Education and Care Centre has been honoured alongside the Scottish procurement elite at the Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards Scotland 2016/17.

The GO Awards are the UK’s premier procurement awards. A national ceremony already takes place in England and October this year saw the launch of the inaugural GO Awards Wales, with the GO Awards Ireland launching in 2017. The GO Awards are recognised as the benchmark by which procurement excellence and progress in public sector commissioning is measured.

Kibble were the winners in the ‘Best Service Award’ for their consistently high quality of public service. Executive Director at Kibble Neil Govan said:

“This is a great achievement for everyone in the Kibble team. We work extremely hard to deliver excellence and value to the public sector so that the young people in our care get the best possible chance to succeed.

“We are proud of our history in Paisley both as an employer and as a social enterprise. We do not have shareholders or operate for a profit – every penny the public sector spends at Kibble is reinvested to create opportunities for our young people.”

Grahame Steed, managing editor of GO and chair of the judging panel, said:

“What a fantastic night it was! The Scottish public procurement community really embraced the GO Awards and the Procurex Scotland Live event earlier in the day and we’re absolutely delighted with the support. The finalists were behind some ground-breaking initiatives and were keen to benchmark themselves against the best in the country. So, thank you to all who entered and well done to all the winners and highly commended!”

Singing, dancing, film making and hip-hop were on the programme as the young people of Kibble Education and Care Centre performed in their annual ‘Kibble Allsorts’ revue show. They played to a packed audience of invited guests and members of the public at its Paisley campus.

‘Kibble Allsorts’ was run in conjunction with the Scottish Mental Health & Film Festival which puts on events throughout Scotland in October each year. The Festival was originally set up to celebrate the artistic achievements of people with experience of mental health issues and to promote positive mental health and wellbeing. The Kibble youngsters impressed with their versions of pop hits Treat You Better by Shawn Mendes, Beggin’ from Frankie Valli and Crazy In Love by Beyonce, amongst others. They were joined on stage with special guest appearances from the student dancers at West College Scotland and Glasgow-based actress Zoe Halliday with their own routines.

Speaking after the event, Principal Teacher of Expressive Arts Laura Cairns said:

“Everyone worked tirelessly to put on such a fantastic evening. The young people learn and develop new skills and confidence throughout the whole process of putting on the variety show.

“From the ICT Class making the short film, the Art Class preparing for the exhibition, or the many hours of practice that our musicians dedicated to making the live performances such a success – I want to pay tribute to all of them.”

Chief Executive Designate of Kibble Jim Gillespie said:

“Yet another fantastic evening showcasing the talent this school has to offer. I thought the performances were outstanding – the sheer quality shone through. What’s less easy to appreciate is the skilful, thoughtful support that brings the youngsters to this point.

“The confident, capable performances don’t just happen and weeks of hard work allow the boys and girls to conquer their nerves and deliver in front of a packed audience. When it all comes together like it did this evening one can’t help but feel incredibly proud of this school.”

Kibble is hosting the spectacular Allsorts show as part of the Mental Health Arts and Film Festival. Please come along and support this great event!

When: Thursday 27 October 2016, 7.00pm
Where: Gannochy Trust Centre for Expressive Arts, Goudie Street, Paisley, PA3 2LG (Kibble Campus)

The stage is set for another dazzling show as pupils get ready to showcase their creative talents on stage alongside community groups. Now in its 5th year, get ready to be entertained by; the Kibble Band, West College Dancers, musical theatre, Strictly Come Dancing, films, and arts and crafts stalls. A delicious buffet will also be served, courtesy of our Home Economics department.

The Mental Health Arts and Film Festival is one of Scotland’s most diverse cultural events. Attended by over 20,000 people, the Festival takes place in venues across Scotland and features; music, film, visual art, theatre, dance and literature. Now in its ninth year, the Festival supports the arts, and challenges preconceived ideas about mental health. It celebrates the artistic achievements of those with experience of mental health, the link between creativity and the mind, and promotes positive mental health and well-being.

Prepare to sing, dance and tap your feet at this year’s Allsorts Show! Please bring along friends and family and let’s make this a night to remember!

How Do I Attend?
Register your attendance by emailing Nicole Hastie (please click link).

MPs from across the UK got the chance to see how social enterprises like Kibbleworks are helping give young people the chance of training and employment. The cross party Work and Pensions Committee were on a fact finding trip to The Experience in Hillington to hear first-hand about Kibble’s Youth Employment Support Programme.

The programme gives real life work experience in the hospitality sector as well as supporting young people in their search for longer term employment. Members of the committee heard about the concerns young people had with getting a job, changes to the welfare system and opportunities to fulfil their potential.

Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP Mhairi Black, who is a member of the committee, had been keen to organise a visit to Renfrewshire as part of the inquiry into the barriers young people face in getting a job. As a Young Workforce Development Centre, The Experience was an ideal venue to find out more.

The Work and Pensions Committee will use the evidence that they have gathered as part of their inquiry to report on the problems young people face in gaining employment and to form recommendations for the Department of Work and Pensions.

We caught up with Karen Gilligan, Manager at Oskars, to find out more about the social enterprise and the services it provides:

What does your business do?
Opened in 2010, Oskars is a social enterprise based in the heart of Paisley that provides a range of second-hand furniture, white goods, and other household items at affordable prices. Our services also include; painting and decorating, gardening, bulk uplift services, and home and office clearances.

As a social enterprise, Oskars is a business that supports those on low incomes by providing low cost, clean, safe, donated furniture. In addition, we offer youth employment, education and skills training to young people furthest removed from the job market, helping open up greater employment opportunities.

Located at 55 Clark Street, Paisley, Oskars is open to the public and provides an eclectic mix of preloved sofas, bedroom furniture, dining tables and chairs, wardrobes, vintage furniture, shabby chic items and more – ideal for upcycling projects. Selling quality items at affordable prices, Oskars is perfect if you’re looking to update your home on a budget, or on a low income.

In partnership with Zero Waste Scotland we offer free upcycling workshops to local residents.  Workshops can take place either at a community group meeting or in Oskars showroom in Paisley. For customers referred to Oskars from housing organisations or local authorities, we can provide generously discounted prices.

We employ young people who face barriers to employment.  They spend six months with us in a real job environment. Training is provided and support is given to find full-time permanent positions at the end of the six month period.  City & Guilds and SVQ qualifications can be worked towards together with Fork Lift Truck training.  To date we have successfully supported over 30 young people into full-time permanent jobs.

We work to a triple bottom line of ‘planet, people and prosperity’.

What are you most proud of when it comes to Oskars?
I am most proud of the young people that we work with who come to us labelled as ‘furthest from the job market’.  Those young people who are willing to work hard and undertake training can turn their lives around as our aim is to offer six months of real life work experience, and support our trainees into mainstream employment.  Our team leaders do this by role modelling, training, coaching and nurturing.  We have had success in this area and the majority of our trainees come back to visit us to let us know how they are getting on.

What do you find most enjoyable in day-to-day business life?
I enjoy seeing the wide variety of items that come into the showroom on a daily basis.  We cannot predict what furniture we will have in stock at any given time.  I also enjoy the fact that we respond to need.  We work two weeks ahead in our planning of jobs but are proud that we have a reputation for reacting quickly to opportunities that arise and carry out jobs in an efficient and timely manner.  This is only possible with the flexibility of our wonderful staff team.

What are your ambitions for the future?
To develop our goods and services so that we can assist more young people into work, support those wishing to make a house a home which has shown to be a major factor in sustaining tenancies and protect our local environment by sending less to landfill.

How has the business changed over the years?
The business has developed over the years as we initially started out as simply a furniture reuse organisation.  However it soon became clear that there was a demand for other services and we responded to this by providing painting and decorating, gardening and the clearing out and cleaning of void properties.

What are your top three priorities?
1.      To provide employment and training to young people aged 16-29
2.      To offer quality furniture and services to householders and
organisations
3.      To expand what we do

Can you offer three tips to new-start businesses?
1.      Believe in yourself, your staff and what you are setting out to do
2.      Take advice from others who have previously worked in the
sector
3.      Work your socks off to make it a success

Why is Renfrewshire a great place to run a business?
It’s a great time to be working in the Renfrewshire area with talk of the regeneration of the town centre and all the excitement around the Paisley 2021 bid.  There is a plethora of fantastic community groups in Renfrewshire that we have worked with and supported in the past and hope to continue doing this in the future.

Has anything weird or wonderful happened in your working life?
One of the most wonderful things that happened to us was back in 2011 when we had an impromptu visit from Robin Gibb when he was in Paisley with the research team from the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?  He spent some time talking to our young trainees and asked a lot of questions about what we were doing and what we wanted to achieve.   Those of us who grew up listening to the Bee Gees, (the older members of staff), were overawed!

What is the main thing you have learned since being involved with Oskars?
The main thing I have learned is that you have to work hard to achieve success but in the words of Simon Sinek, the leadership and management author, “working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion.”

THE Presiding Officer of The Scottish Parliament Ken Macintosh MSP took time last week to see how Kibble’s social enterprise OSKARS is giving new life to old furniture. Mr Macintosh was visiting the OSKARS showroom in Clark Street, where he also heard about work and training opportunities for local youngsters.

Starting in 2010, OSKARS refurbishes and resells household items at an affordable cost through a process known as ‘upcycling’. As a social enterprise, the money from every sale is reinvested back into the business and aims to stop as much furniture as possible being sent to landfill.

Ken Macintosh MSP said:

“I am delighted to have had the chance to see first-hand some of the work that OSKARS does locally. It was humbling to hear one of the trainees, Ryan, tell me about no matter how hard he tried, no one was willing to give him a chance to prove himself in the workplace until he started in OSKARS.

“It is a very simple idea but also very effective. We can stop unnecessary waste going to landfill and support training and work opportunities for young people in Renfrewshire.

“The scale and the scope of work is impressive and I know that both OSKARS, and trainees like Ryan, will continue to flourish.”

Karen Gilligan, Manager at OSKARS, said:

“I appreciate Ken taking the time to visit our showroom and to see some of the exciting work going on here.

“We are aiming to provide as many training opportunities as possible for local young people and our range of services now include painting and decorating, gardening, bulk uplift services, and home and office clearances.

“Our young people work incredibly hard every day to be ready for the world of work. The skills they gain here help them achieve that goal.”

OSKARS, part of KibbleWorks, provides training and employment opportunities open to 16-24 year olds who are currently unemployed. There are also opportunities specifically for those who have care experience. For more information about these opportunities, or to find out more about the services OSKARS provide, contact us on 0141 847 6626 or visit our website.

A psychologist working in Kibble will be given the chance to learn about ground breaking techniques being used to help vulnerable young people across the world.  Senior Forensic Psychologist Dan Johnson will travel to America and Scandinavia thanks to the support of The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.

The Trust, first established in 1965, awards Fellowships to over 100 British citizens every year. The ‘Fellows’ are selected due to their vision and motivation to improve their profession and are given financial support to travel and share best practice from across the globe.

Dan Johnson said:

“This will be a great chance for Kibble to expand its learning from experts and practitioners across the world. For example, in America there is a long history of study into childhood trauma and creating new ways to help those who have had adverse experiences as a young person.

“In Scandinavia there are government schemes that put added resources into young people compared with the UK. It will be interesting to see what knowledge can be applied here in Scotland to help our vulnerable young people.

“Young people who have experienced adversity and trauma have some of the greatest difficulties, my hope is that by taking this journey we will be able to learn new effective ways to help them.”

The original Winston Churchill Memorial Trust endowment of £2.75m was raised from a public appeal by the Duke of Edinburgh to create a legacy for Britain’s war time Prime Minister and would be worth over £50m in today’s money. Their motto ‘travel to learn, return to inspire’ has extra significance for Kibble.

Chief Executive of Kibble Education and Care Centre Graham Bell said:

“We are delighted that Dan has achieved this Fellowship, and look forward to discussing the findings and recommendations from his report following his visits.”

“For many decades we have been building a culture of continuous learning as an organisation to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable young people in Scotland. Shared learning from across the globe helps us put into practice new methods that will give these young people a chance of succeeding.”

One young person’s passion for Parkour has helped give him a brighter, happier future.

Ross, a teenage pupil at Kibble, recognised the benefits of Parkour when it was first introduced into the school curriculum. His passion for the art form, which involves free movement across various terrains using the body, has helped him overcome significant challenges and give him a happier future.

From a troubled background, Ross took on the early role of carer for his younger brother before moving into care. When Parkour was introduced to the school curriculum, Ross initially became frustrated and would give up easily believing he couldn’t do it. However through dedicated coaching from Instructor David Banks, Ross gained confidence and developed a new-found skill. This not only opened up opportunities in Parkour, but also transcended into other areas of his life including his education, ability to meet new people, and participate in other activities. Through being part of a community where “people believed in him”, Parkour helped Ross to build positive new relationships and meet people from all over the world.

According to Instructor David Banks:

“Participation in the arts, not just Parkour allows people to engage in something positive, gives help in formal education, and ability to engage in other art forms – the physical, collaborative methodology in which they work that they can apply to other areas of their lives.”

Ross’s incredible story has been turned into a short film by Youth Arts Scotland, with funding from The Scottish Government. The film is part of a project highlighting the importance of youth arts, and the role arts and creativity can have in improving the life chances of young people and tackling inequality.

According to Ross:

“If I could look back, I would have been in jail. I’d always be getting into trouble; I wouldn’t have much of a life. Now I feel like I could have a family, get a job, get a house. Everything is so much better now that these doors have opened.

“If I didn’t do Parkour, I feel I wouldn’t be who I am just now”.

The Academy Restaurant at The Experience was transformed into an old-fashioned dance hall last Thursday (2 June) as locals joined us for our first ever SuperJam tea party.

The Experience, Kibble’s largest social enterprise and Young Workforce Development Centre, recreated the familiar dance hall of yesteryear, as guests enjoyed ballroom dance instruction, familiar songs, afternoon tea and lots of laughter. As the doors swung open at 3pm, enthusiastic faces from local care homes, and community groups, entered the dance hall dressed in their finest to join in the free event.

The event was arranged in partnership with SuperJam – global jam manufacturer based in Edinburgh. The tea parties provide an opportunity for the older generation to get together and make new friends, and aims to tackle feelings of loneliness and isolation. As the music played out, the dance floor became alive with people dancing to anything from the foxtrot, to the waltz… to the YMCA!

Based in the heart of Hillington Park, The Experience is a hub for the whole community to enjoy. Our award-winning disability karting programme provides those with additional support needs the chance to experience the adrenaline-filled world of electric Go-karting. Karters from 8 – 98 can enjoy this fantastic programme.

Speaking after the event, Eileen Cummings from The Experience said:

“Many people remember the amazing dance halls that we used to have across Paisley and Renfrewshire. We tried to recreate something similar and bring together as many people as possible to have a good time and to get people’s toes tapping.

“We know how isolation can affect the wellbeing of older people in our communities. Events like this are important to help people make new friends and continue to have active lifestyles.”

Of course, the event venue has always been abuzz with music and dance. The former Rolls Royce Factory, who produced the Merlin engines for the Spitfire and Hurricane jets in war-time, had a vibrant social scene with regular dances, cabaret and entertainment put on for staff during lunchtimes in the canteen. Mary Slater, who worked in the factory during the war, said:

“It was a good place for young people because they used to have apprenticeship dances every month. Then at the canteens, C block I think, used to have a dance and music every Friday at lunchtime.”

Helen Allan also worked at the Rolls Royce factory during World War 2. She said:

“Famous people came in during the lunch hour, like Gracie Fields and people we would never ever have expected to see. That was them doing voluntary work and to just help the war effort, it kept people going you know. There was Archie McCullock and his wife came in to entertain us at dinner time. And then there was music while you worked. The music came right through the factory, you worked away doing your nuts and bolts and screws.”

We already can’t wait to run the next SuperJam Tea Party… watch this space and dig out you little black book!