An employment service run by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is looking for third sector employers across Scotland to benefit young people and their communities.
Community Jobs Scotland (CJS) is an employability service which aims to support vulnerable unemployed young people by getting them into work with third sector organisations.
CJS already works with hundreds of employers across Scotland, and so far they have filled 7,670 vacancies and aim to create a further 700 jobs by March 2018.
Donna Mackinnon, SCVO’s Director of Employment Services, said: “We are very proud of what we have achieved as a service so far. Our team work incredibly hard with partner organisations to support both employers and employees, creating positions for vulnerable, unemployed young people across Scotland. However, our work isn’t finished and there are still many unemployed young people out there, so we want to create 700 more jobs in the third sector to enable them to thrive and be active members of their communities.”
Anita Boyle, Chief Executive of
LAMH Recycle Ltd, has been a CJS employer for years: “I really feel it’s a benefit for the youngsters, especially people who have never worked and this is their first step on the ladder. We can gradually build up their confidence and get them job ready. We’re in contact with people who came through years ago who still say if it hadn’t been for their time on Community Jobs Scotland they would never have realised their potential and known that they were able to do it.”
David Mann, Director of the
Scottish Maritime Museum, added: “I think there’s a lot of things we do in the museum now that we wouldn’t have been able to do if we hadn’t had Community Jobs Scotland employees with us. It’s given us that extra scope and the opportunity to train our staff in supervisory skills and develop them in-house. I would absolutely recommend it.”
Paul Cruise, Development Manager at
Living Solutions Ltd, said: “Our aim is to train people up, consolidate their training and give them enough experience they’ll go straight into a job, qualified. There are some amazing young people out there. Don’t just take them on to give them work experience, take them on with an aim of improving that person’s chances - give them something tangible.”
Nicole, 22, a CJS employee at the Scottish Maritime Museum said: “I’ve got skills now that I never actually thought I would have – I’ve learned how to build a boat, which is great. It has brought up my confidence quite a bit and I talk to a lot more people now.”
Callum, 26, a CJS employee at
Braveheart Industries said: “I was leading quite an unmanageable and chaotic life, revolving around prison and alcohol addiction. The benefit of working here is a purpose. Getting up in the morning and having the purpose of coming to work, learning skills that’ll benefit me in the future. With recovery and this combined it has totally transformed my life – today I’m six months’ sober.”
Lucy, 22, a former CJS employee at
Young Enterprise Scotland said: “I graduated and was made redundant in the same month so I was a wee bit stuck. Young Enterprise were able to put me in touch with Community Jobs Scotland and they managed to find me a position that suited me quite well. When I first started my job was part-time but since then it has progressed and I’m now full-time and working with young people in schools as well. I absolutely love it – I must be one of the only people in the world who absolutely loves coming to work!”
Hear from more organisations and CJS employees about their experiences on our YouTube channel.To find out more about Community Jobs Scotland, how to become an employer, or employee eligibility criteria, visit their website or contact the team at Communityjobsscotland@scvo.scot 0141 559 5026.
Last modified on 14 January 2021
