A refreshing breeze of new ideas and new talents

We recently announced that we've been awarded £1.3m from the Scottish Government to create more jobs for young unemployed people in charities and third sector organisations through the Community Jobs Scotland (CJS) scheme. Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Fair Work, Skills and Training, made the announcement last month at Glenboig Neighbourhood House (GHN), near Coatbridge, where Cameron Hill, 19, was employed as a Community Gardner through CJS. We got in touch with Claire Delahay from GNH to hear what the scheme has meant for her organisation. Claire said, "We have benefited greatly from CJS. There are obvious gains in having additional staffing without the usual process of having to find funding for the posts. In turn, this human resource allows us to grow our services and means we are better placed to be able to reach more people within our community who would benefit from being engaged in our services. "This has of course been a two-way street, as the CJS employees who come on board receive a lot of in work support and training which leaves them more work ready when they leave.

"To make the most of this programme, it is important to recognise that each person who comes on board through CJS is an individual with their own experiences, skills, needs and set of personal circumstances. Personalising training and support to individuals has been crucial for us in making the most of the experience for our CJS employees and for us as an organisation. "So, yes what you save in monetary investment, you have to substitute in time investment in people but what you get is a refreshing breeze of new ideas and new talents waiting to be discovered!"