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The contribution of 13 Future Jobs Fund candidates to improving the housing stock for potential Dundee City Council tenants has been recognised.
For the past six months the group has been undertaking decorating tasks in vacant council properties, learning and applying skills including a decorative finishes programme from Dundee College, construction skills certification scheme training, manual handling, asbestos management and risk assessment.
To mark their contribution all 13 have been presented with their training portfolios and completion certificates by Jimmy Black, convener of Dundee Contract Services Committee and Ken Laing director of Dundee Contract Services.
The candidates have been honing their painting and decorating skills by decorating vacant council properties to a standard which will make the properties more likely to be accepted by new tenants.
That standard of decoration in vacant council properties makes them much more likely to be accepted by new tenants who may be from vulnerable groups and would struggle to undertake this activity on their own.
The Future Jobs Fund was launched by the Government in 2009 to create employment opportunities for unemployed young people and other disadvantaged groups.
All employment opportunities created through the Future Jobs Fund are additional to what is already being delivered, have a community benefit, include a training element and look at how to increase participants' likelihood of gaining employment.
The salary, pension and training costs for every person taken on as part of the Future Jobs Fund programme are met by the Government.
Dundee City Council has successfully run Future Jobs Fund projects in other disciplines across the council including environmental improvement and sports coaching.
The 13 participants in the painting and decorating programme were - Andrew Bain, James Buchan, Joseph Glancy, Darren Graham, Paul McLeod, Mark Higgins, Jamie McGregor, Scott Markie, Scott Marshall, Dale Melville, Paul Patterson, Patrick Stewart and Steven Usher.
(GK)
