Leadership team visits skills hub in East Ayrshire

Nick Page and Donna Stewart with Eddie Fraser, Linda McAulay-Griffiths and Margorie Harvie

SL33 serves as a one-stop shop to support young people particularly those at risk of becoming disengaged with school. The hub provides vocational training, classrooms and creative spaces to help develop skills, boost confidence, and provide training for employment.

Welcomed by Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Director of Education and Skills and Eddie Fraser, Chief Executive of East Ayrshire Council, Nick and Donna met with staff who delivers skills and learning programmes from two locations across the local authority area.

Nick Page chats with young people at SL33

Nick and Donna spent time chatting with young learners who were working towards a number of our qualifications including barista training, customer service and employability; and spoke extensively with representatives from the DWP, Skills Development Scotland, Ayrshire and Arran Health Board and teams from across East Ayrshire Council who are based within SL33.

They also found out more about the East Ayrshire Council’s recent decision to merge the employability team with Education Services to create a new team that delivers employability support to all-age clients, parents and carers.

Employability is key to the delivery of the Scottish Government’s aims of tackling poverty, promoting inclusion and social justice, and creating a fair and prosperous Scotland and East Ayrshire Council’s long term ambition to build a fairer economy has motivated drives towards supporting local business, building community wealth, regeneration and investment in education.

Nick Page, Chief Executive of Qualifications Scotland said: “Donna and I were delighted to visit SL33 and hear first-hand from learners, educators and East Ayrshire Council representatives about all the great work they are doing to achieve and deliver qualifications. It was inspiring to see how our qualifications are enabling people to develop knowledge and skills that will help them reach their potential and contribute to key sectors of the local economy.

Nick Page chats with young people at the beauty training room in SL33

“The learning and training opportunities being offered by East Ayrshire Council are a powerful example of the purpose of Qualifications Scotland in action – by working with partners across the education and skills sector, to give every learner the opportunity to fulfil their potential and to deliver for Scotland through being the most productive and skilled workforce in the UK.”

Linda McAulay-Griffiths, Director of Education and Skills said: "It was a real pleasure to welcome Nick and Donna to SL33. In East Ayrshire, our approach to skills and learning is unique and it is something we are very proud of. The SL33 team has worked very hard to develop partnerships with colleagues, community planning partners, the third sector, further education and of course, local businesses to ensure that we are doing absolutely everything we can to get young people ready for the world of work and supporting people of all ages to get back into work.

"We are committed to working collaboratively to achieve the best possible outcomes for our young people, their families, our communities and businesses, and to bringing the best possible help and advice to boost peoples’ lives, prosperity and businesses in the face of all the challenges we meet.”