Vocational training is making a real difference at one of Europe’s largest assisted workshop facilities.

Bailie Jean McFadden has visited Blindcraft to learn more about how a unique vocational training programme is improving the lives of city teenagers.

Glasgow City Council’s education convener met three pupils who are currently on the programme and also chatted to Martin McGarvie and James Morrow, both of whom now work for Blindcraft full-time after completing the vocational training.

Blindcraft (Royal Strathclyde Blindcraft Industries) is one of Europe’s largest assisted workshop facilities, employing 260 workers of whom more than 50 per cent have a disability. It is operated by City Building – Glasgow City Council’s arm’s-length construction company – and produces a range of furniture and construction products to exacting standards.

Bailie Jean McFadden, Executive Member for Education, said: "The vocational training programme being offered to our school pupils is clearly making a huge difference to their lives.

"I'm delighted that so many of the city's young people are benefiting from this experience.

"It's further evidence, if any were needed, that the council is committed to focusing on its priorities of education, skills and the economy, and targeted support for the vulnerable."

Blindcraft offers a two-year vocational training course to pupils aged between 15 and 17 attending the city’s seven Additional Support for Learning (ASL) schools and those in the special units of mainstream secondaries.

-- Advertisement --

It is offered as an alternative to a non-core Standard Grade subject, placing the pupils in a genuine workplace environment where they study towards two units from the SVQ Performing Manufacturing Operations qualification for half a day every week.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of pupils on the programme due to an increase in demand. From being able to accommodate only 10 pupils five years ago, Blindcraft now has 40 spaces on the programme every year. In the last four years, the organisation has hired 12 pupils who have completed the programme.

Bailie McFadden met with City Building managing director Willie Docherty, Blindcraft manager George Gaffney and Learning Centre manager Audrey McJimsey to discuss vocational training. She also met SVQ assessor Jim Brown and SVQ supervisor Liz Leggate.

Willie Docherty added: “Today’s visit by Bailie McFadden was a great opportunity to demonstrate how much our vocational training programme is changing the lives of these teenagers for the better, providing real workplace experience and a set of challenges they do not face in the classroom.

“The feedback we receive from the pupils, and the volume of subsequent job applications we receive, tells us that these young people enjoy their time here.

“We also find that those who choose other career paths consider the skills they learn, such as problem solving and working with others, as important factors in their overall personal development.”

Blindcraft has had a presence in Glasgow for more than 200 years and last month HRH The Princess Royal visited the factory for the second time, after previously visiting in 2001. Blindcraft works closely with a range of organisations that The Princess Royal is associated with, including Glasgow’s Helping Heroes, and employs a number of war veterans at its workshop in Glasgow.

Blindcraft also fitted out the shop headquarters of the national charity Help for Heroes in Glasgow in January this year and is a regular supporter of Poppy Scotland. In November 2010, star of TV’s Secret Millionaire programme and former Scottish paratrooper Tony Banks toured the factory to highlight the close relationship between Blindcraft and war veterans.

Blindcraft’s workshop in Glasgow provides a purpose-built, BS EN ISO:9001 assessed, high-tech manufacturing centre, equipped with the latest automated machinery and a highly-trained and skilled workforce. It is recognised as a one of the UK’s leading examples of social enterprise through its commitment to the training and employment of young people from all backgrounds.

Blindcraft also benefits from Article 19 of the Public Procurement Directive which enables public contracts to be reserved to supported factories and businesses where more than 50 per cent of employees are people with disabilities.

(GK)