Kingdom Housing Association (KHA) has marked the 15th anniversary of their Fife-based employability project, Kingdom Works, while raising funds for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Staff from Kingdom Works were joined by colleagues from across the wider Kingdom Group at their office base in Glenrothes to mark the milestone achievement.

Kingdom Works was set up in 2008 to support KHA's customers and people in the wider community to access high-quality training to increase their employment prospects. Since then, Kingdom Works has supported over 8,000 unemployed people, delivering accredited training to more than 5,000 people, and helping over 4,000 people into work.

Lynne Dunn, Kingdom Works Manager said, "Our Mission at the Kingdom Group is to provide more than a home and Kingdom Works is a brilliant example of how we do that, supporting our customers and communities with much more than bricks and mortar. 15 years ago we recognised there was a real need from our customers for help and support when it came to finding work. Kingdom Works was formed to support not only our tenants, but also the wider communities across Fife."

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Kingdom Works has created various innovative projects including sector based work academies in construction, care, hospitality, security, and warehousing and has recently partnered with employers to offer training in offshore safety. Kingdom Works also offers free fitness classes and social football in partnership with Fife Sports and Leisure Trust and Raith Rovers Community Foundation. 

Brooke Cooper, Construction Academy Trainee said: "The whole construction academy has been amazing. This opportunity has got me loads of qualifications and my work placement with Robertson's has given me experience with bricklayers which is the trade I'd love to work in. The tour of the new Dunfermline Learning Campus was so interesting and the staff from Balfour Beatty were really good with us and answered any questions we had. Overall I can't thank everyone involved enough."

Over the years Kingdom Works has received funding from The European Structural Investment Funds, Fife Council and the Scottish Government for the delivery of their various Employability projects, and is a partner of Fife's third sector Employment and Training Consortium (Fife ETC). Kingdom Works currently delivers services through the Scottish Government's 'No One Left Behind' strategy, and the new funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Funding is offering higher level training courses, assisting clients to build a career, not just a job.