Employability celebrated in East Renfrewshire
Local residents, partners and employers were celebrated at the recent East Renfrewshire Employability Awards, highlighting the achievements of the past year.
The event, led by our Work EastRen team, marked the successes of those local residents who have excelled in furthering their employment and training prospects, as well as recognising the work of employability staff, local employers and community partners.
Nine awards were handed out on the day and the winners were as follows:
Employability Trainee Award - Caitlyn Gray. Since joining East Renfrewshire Citizen's Advice, Caitlyn has embraced all the opportunities before her, including undertaking numerous training programmes.
Employability Young Person Award - Sally Mercer. Sally, a young carer, excelled while on the Positive Pathways programme and is now studying for a National Progression Award in Carpentry and Joinery.
Employability Over 25 Award - Jane McIntosh. With support from the Health Employability Programme, Jane progressed to working at John Lewis where she is flourishing within the role of customer service assistant.
Developing the Young Workforce Award - Jude Fox. With Developing the Young Workforce support, Jude has made a great transition on from school and is now studying for an NPA in Carpentry and Joinery.
Employer Award - Graham Construction. Graham Construction have been working closely to provide job opportunities and work experience to local residents through Community Benefits
Employability Parents Award - Andrena Johnstone. Andrena started as a trainee within the council's education team with the support of the Parental Employability Support Programme and is excelling within the role.
Employability Adviser Award - Donna Kenanoglu. Donna has worked with the Work EastRen Team for twenty years as a dedicated Client Adviser providing invaluable employability support and advice to local residents
Multiply Award - Atika Hanan-Ilyas. As well as excelling with numeracy on the course, Atika worked incredibly hard to change her own circumstances in a very short period of time, leading to a permanent job offer.
Employability Special Recognition Award - Roman Milko. Following his arrival in Scotland from Ukraine, Roman started work with a transport and logistics company. He originally spoke very little English but is now almost fluent and is due to finish a training programme in UK Gas Engineering.
East Renfrewshire Council Leader Owen O'Donnell said: 'We had a fantastic afternoon celebrating the achievements of local residents, employers, partners and council staff. From young people excelling in their new careers, to parents' upskilling themselves through training opportunities, I was impressed at the wide-range of successes on show. It is clear that the employability support offered by our staff, alongside partners in the community, is making a real difference to the lives of people across East Renfrewshire. My congratulations go to all the winners, but also to everyone who was nominated - you should all be very proud of yourselves.'
