Kingdom Housing Association has recruited four trainees who, over the next three to four years, will gain the skills, knowledge and experience to work in their chosen field through a combination of work-based training and further education while earning a full time salary.

The trainees have been appointed across the Association’s departments in Human Resources, Development, Finance and Property Services and will add to Kingdom’s existing training programme where positions are already in place covering Housing and Maintenance

Bill Banks, chief executive at Kingdom, said: “Kingdom’s mission is to provide ‘More than a home’ and we want to help build and develop the communities we operate in. For a variety of reasons, young people sometime struggle to find a pathway into the career of their choice and I’m very pleased that we’ve been able to build that path for some of them.”

Morgan Anderson (Human Resources), Richard Miller (Development), Michael Mayes (Finance) and Nathan Connolly (Plumbing) recently started their traineeship with Kingdom and are very excited about the opportunity they have.

Morgan said: “When I left school after 6th year, I didn’t feel university was right for me and got a job at a local supermarket where I soon became a supervisor. I really enjoyed the Human Resource elements of that job and decided I wanted to pursue a career in HR but couldn’t find a way into it. The traineeship I have managed to get with Kingdom will let me get the skills and qualifications to pursue my career whilst earning a good wage.”

Andrew Latto, Kingdom’s head of HR, added: “Our trainee programme was driven by our desire to make a contribution to the communities we operate in but there’s a real benefit for us too. I was astounded by the calibre of applicants we had for these roles. My message to HR colleagues in other organisations is that there is a fantastic pool of talent out there you can tap into through a trainee programme. I’m also very grateful to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Scotland for their help in designing the development plan for our HR Trainee.”

Donald Gordon, chair of CIPD Scotland, said: “CIPD in Scotland is delighted to be involved with Kingdom Housing in their initiative to introduce apprenticeships into their business, especially one covering HR. Undertaking an apprenticeship is a unique way of learning in the workplace and having the opportunity of studying at college. This method of learning not only develops transferable skills, but is also provides an academically challenging environment for the apprentice.”

He added: “It is very encouraging that Kingdom Housing have included apprenticeships as part of their workforce planning and hope that this initiative will encourage other businesses and organisations across Fife and beyond to consider the importance of apprenticeships as an integral part of their people development and talent strategy.”

Derek Brown, head of education & children’s services from Fife Council, said: “We are really pleased to note the success of the traineeship scheme that Kingdom Housing has developed. It is important that our young people see such schemes as providing a viable option in progressing from school. For many young people this could be a better option than progressing to Higher or Further Education. Building the confidence of Fife businesses in the talent pool of young people is an important part of our Education strategy. The traineeship scheme is an example of an employer investing in a future workforce in a way that other organisations can learn from.”

In addition to the trainee posts directly offered by Kingdom, the Association also manage the Fife Works Project, where they assist unemployed people to access training and employment opportunities with Fife employers. Kingdom receives funding from various sources to operate the Fife Works project including Scottish Government (Skills Development Scotland Employability Fund and People and Communities Fund) and Fife ETC (Employability and Training Consortium) which is funded through Opportunities Fife administered by Fife Council.