A group of youngsters in Drumchapel have been getting set for the world of work while offering services in the local community thanks to the joint initiative of Action for Children and Pineview Housing Association.

The initiative encourages young people to offer their services in the local community while giving them new skills to prepare them for the world of work.

Over the summer, a group of 12 young people, aged 16 – 19 year old, have been hard at work carrying out a variety of works while gaining skills in groundworks, landscaping, joinery and painting. Pineview provided the scope of works to be undertaken and the material resources to do so, but it was the young people and Action for Children who provided all the hard work to successfully carry out the works over the 6 week period.

All of the young people will now go on to develop further skills with the support of Action for Children. Nine are currently arranging to progress to a 10 week forestry course with the Forestry Commission.

Andrew McTernan from Action for Children said: “Firstly, I would like to thank the participants and staff at Pineview Housing Association for all their hard work and support during Action for Children’s, Drumchapel Challenge, 2015. As an organisation we are committed to supporting young people meet their full potential by offering employability focussed programmes to assist the learners in enhancing their skills and prospect of entering the world of work.”

Joyce Orr, director of Pineview Housing Association, said: “The Association is delighted to have been able to work in partnership again with Action for Children to deliver skills for young people and bring benefits to our local community. The quality and range of work undertaken by the young people of the project has been fantastic. The commitment of the young people has been excellent and they should be very proud of what they have achieved. This work has given the young people a whole host of skills that they will hopefully take with them into future employment.”

Some of those involved gathered at the office of Pineview to collect their certificate before heading off for a celebratory lunch.