Scotland’s Minister for Employability and Training, Jamie Hepburn, was at Forth Valley College’s Stirling Campus on Thursday (15/02/18) to observe Falkirk secondary school pupils take part in an innovative Hospitality, Food and Tourism Takeover Day.
More than 160 high school pupils from seven schools attended the event organised by Springboard UK, who arranged for nine different workshops on the day for groups of 18 children to get a feel for the hospitality industry.
Principal Dr Ken Thomson welcomed everyone on the day and Fergus Wood from Great Time Scotland and Fiona Matrundola from VisitScotland officially set the scene for the purpose of the activities and workshops, which were aimed at encouraging secondary school pupils to consider thinking about a career in the industry.
The day engages industry partners, such as Gather and Gather, Historic Environment Scotland, Macdonald Inchyra Hotel, Visit Falkirk, Caledonian Produce, Forth Valley College, as well as representation from the events sector and local tourist attractions and smaller businesses (such as Sophie Robertson and Private Chef Mark Heirs), to host these workshops. Over the course of the day, pupils experienced how it feels to be both a guest and a hospitality professional and were very hands-on during the event taking part in a series of skills challenges – including an Omelette Challenge.
Jamie Hepburn, Scotland’s Minister for Employability, said: “I was delighted to join pupils at Forth Valley College Hospitality, Food and Tourism Takeover Day. Not only did this event showcase the industry at its very best, it also highlighted the benefits of the Developing Young Workforce agenda by enabling schools and colleges to engage directly with industry. This approach is enabling young people to develop industry ready skills through workshops, with a view to sustaining further engagement through quality work experience, career opportunities and modern apprenticeships.”
FVC Principal Dr Ken Thomson, said: “We are delighted that the Minister could come along today to see at first hand, how these experiences can inspire our future hospitality professionals. This is always a fantastic event to help give secondary school pupils a taste of what the hospitality industry has to offer and we were delighted to host it once again at our Stirling Campus, which offers state-of-the-art facilities in relation to this sector.
“We are passionate about events like these and the feedback we have already received has shown this to have been a successful event and we will be looking to hold similar events in the future to allow pupils to sample these excellent experiences of the hospitality industry.”
Vicki Sutherland, Head of East Region – Springboard Scotland, said: “Springboard Takeover Days are proving to be a fantastic way to raise the profile of an exciting and varied industry with real job prospects. These events bring together future potential recruits with industry employers. Events like these also draw pupils’ attention to the many local opportunities that exist in the sector.”
Jen Henderson, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Forth Valley, Programme Manager, said: “The Hospitality and Tourism Takeover day is an excellent opportunity for young people to gain an insight to a diverse range of career opportunities in this sector that they may not have previously been aware of. For those who are inspired, there is also the opportunity to have a further insight into the sector with DYW partners from Forth Valley College and business partners from this sector.”