Cruden Building & Renewals Limited has taken on two apprentices thanks to sponsorship by Action for Children, Sanctuary Scotland and Wheatley Group.

Kenneth McCarvel, 20, of Milton and Zoe Hume, 18, from the Knightswood area of Glasgow, were sponsored to undertake a year of general labouring with Cruden. They were trained, assessed and offered the opportunity to sit – and subsequently pass – an apprenticeship entrance exam.

Their hard work and dedication means they have both secured a four year apprenticeship with Cruden in conjunction with CITB, offering them the potential to acquire skills and workplace qualifications which could change their lives forever.

Cruden’s coveted ‘Modern Apprenticeship Scheme’ has seen the firm take on four more apprentices.

Paul Conway, Michael Quigley, Reece Sutherland and Kieran Murphy have all started training with Cruden after being recruited following a pre-apprenticeship programme and training courses with Jobs & Business Glasgow.

Thanks also to sponsorship by the Glasgow Guarantee, Cruden Building & Renewals were able to take on another three apprentices, Jason Henderson, Taylor Ross and Jonathan Findlay.

Paul Boland, HR manager for Cruden Building and Renewals, said: “We remain committed to supporting local employment, education and economic opportunities and are delighted to welcome the latest raft of youngsters to what is now our long established apprenticeship programme.

“The sponsorship provided by Action for Children, Sanctuary and Wheatley has the potential to change the lives of some extremely dedicated and talented individuals and I would like to wish all of our apprentices the very best of luck as they embark on their chosen career paths.”

Three of the apprentices - Kenneth McCarvel, Kieran Murphy and Zoe Hume – are being supported by housing, care and community regeneration organisation Wheatley Group. The Wheatley Pledge is a £1.5million scheme which encourages contractors and suppliers to do more to help people who live in Wheatley’s neighbourhoods.

Wheatley Group director of property, Alex McGuire, said: “We always want to increase opportunities for young people in our communities and help them fulfil their potential. We’re delighted to support these three young people at the start of an exciting career with Cruden.”

Gordon Laurie, director, Sanctuary in Scotland, said: “Kenneth and Zoe are helping us build 70 affordable homes and richly deserve their full apprenticeships. The skills they learn will serve them well throughout their careers, decades after our Hugo Street project is completed.”

Ivonne Hamilton, strategic operations manager for Jobs & Business Glasgow, added: “Jobs & Business Glasgow are committed to working in partnership with Cruden Building and Renewals supporting them to deliver against community benefit contracts across the city.

“We are delighted to have recruited young people from across Glasgow onto a six week pre-apprenticeship programme funded through Skills Development Scotland’s Employability Fund, progressing four of the young people into apprenticeship opportunities with the team at Cruden.

“We wish the young people all the best and hope what they have learned from here will have a positive impact on their lives - we are delighted that they are joining the team at Cruden.

“Jobs & Business Glasgow is committed to supporting local residents to compete for employment opportunities in and beyond the city and to supporting employers, stakeholders and partners to continue to make a positive and strong contribution to economic development in Glasgow.”

Cruden have also provided a further six apprenticeship positions across Scotland.