Forth Valley College’s Project SEARCH has proven so successful that a second initiative has now been rolled out at The Stirling Highland Hotel.
The Project SEARCH - DFN Charitable Foundation - supports young people with learning difficulties to gain skills and experience, aimed at helping them move into sustainable employment and the first group of FVC interns (aged between 16-24) started at Forth Valley Royal Hospital in 2018 in Larbert.
Throughout their year-long course the interns will complete a selection of industry standard certificates and are assisted throughout by a FVC lecturer and a Stirling Council job coach as well as Stirling Highland Hotel staff.
The new programme is a partnership between FVC, The Stirling Highland Hotel and Stirling Council, and helps eight interns to learn real job skills that will prepare them for work by rotating them through a variety of different work placement experiences. This practical, work-based learning is supported by classroom activities each day in the onsite training room, as well as regular discussion and feedback from supervisors throughout the programme.
Two FVC lecturers - Gareth Hughes and Angela MacLeod – will each cover half the week and Stirling Council will provide the job coaching role, and similar to the Falkirk initiative, the project will be aimed at recruiting Stirling area residents.
Jackie Innes, Operations Manager in the Department of Care, Sport, Business and Communities, said: “This new Project Search course started in August and the interns were initially based at our Stirling Campus until the October break, while the hotel were preparing their training room. The hospitality team at FVC in Stirling have been amazing and provided them with some placements to prepare them and following the October break, the students moved up to the hotel full time.
“The interns will have placements in lots of areas in the hotel such as the reception, housekeeping, the kitchen, restaurant, maintenance and leisure centre. We are delighted to be working with our new partners on this new Project SEARCH programme and look forward to making it a success over the coming months.”
Claire Johnston, Regional HR Manager at the Cairn Group who own The Stirling Highland Hotel, said: “This is our first time working with DFN Project Search, Forth Valley College and Stirling Council, and we are delighted to be able to offer real world experience at the hotel. It is a great example of the remarkable impact that partnerships can have on our communities.
“Hospitality offers our interns the opportunity to work alongside the team in all areas of the Hotel, looking after our guests and seeing the inner workings of various departments. We are excited to see their development over the coming months as we all continue to learn from each other.”
Colette Ormiston, Senior Officer Learning and Employability at Stirling Council, said: “DFN Project Search has an excellent track record for getting people with learning difficulties into paid employment. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Forth Valley College and The Stirling Highland Hotel to deliver this programme for Young People in Stirling and look forward to seeing how the interns progress over the coming months.”
The DFN Charitable Foundation, is a UK registered charity established in 2014 by David Forbes Nixon, with the express aim of promoting programmes such these to support young people with learning difficulties to gain skills and experience aimed at helping them move into sustainable employment.
Anyone wishing to find out more on the course should contact FVC on 01324 403000.