Four young James Frew apprentices recently demonstrated their skills and craftsmanship when they unveiled a stone cairn to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the Boys Brigade.

Over sixty people recently took part in a dedication service for the cairn which formed part of a competition organised by Skills Development Scotland.

Apprentices, Martin Kenevick, Darren Dunlop, Dean Wilson and Chris Morrison took five weeks to create the cairn which is now positioned within the Field of Hope at Caledonia Road in Stevenston.

Under the supervision of Contracts Manager, Brian Gibson, the boys came up with the idea, designed the cairn and then sourced all the materials from local builders who kindly donated them to help the boys with their project. They even received a striking anchor from the fishing community at Dunure which is pride of place on the cairn.

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Brian Gibson said: "I'm tremendously proud of the boys. To see an idea transform into so many people attending the dedication service is just fantastic.

"It is a real testament to the boys’ characters, not to mention all the new skills they have learned during their apprenticeships. They really are a great asset to the firm. The support they received from local organisations to help build the cairn was also tremendous."

Launched over 90 years ago, James Frew’s apprenticeship scheme has trained over 150 apprentices, most of whom receive full time employment at the end of their training.

The Ayrshire Modern Apprentice Community Challenge is now in its sixth year and requires groups of apprentices to create a project which will benefit the community. Skills Development Scotland was set up by the Scottish Government to be the catalyst for enhancing Scotland’s skill performance.

(GK/KMcA)