Activities and training programmes for young people in and around Callander

Employability

A key area of focus for CYP is helping local young people (aged 16-29) to gain access to employment and training opportunities. We are able to offer some such opportunities in-house, thanks to our two social enterprises based in Callander (Hostel and Functions). You can find out here if we have any current job vacancies.

Beyond this, we can offer a variety of individualised support – helping to write CVs, complete applications or prepare for interviews. If you think that this could be of use to you, please get in touch and let us know how we can help.

Steps to Work

At the moment, the majority of our employability support falls under a single project. This is called Steps to Work and is jointly funded by Young Start and the Building Brighter Futures Fund. Their support allows us to work with many young people from within the local community, in addition to weekly sessions with pupils from McLaren High School.

Through this project, we can offer an SQA-accredited Steps to Work Award, made up of several modules designed to prepare young people for the world of work. This can be offered to individuals or in a group setting. To better support the young people we work with, we also offer 1-1 sessions tailored to each individual’s specific needs and circumstances.

The Steps to Work Award is not the only qualification available to the young people involved in our programme. We work to source industry-standard qualifications that can help boost an individual’s CV – this has included Food Safety certificates (Hospitality), SFA Coaching Awards (Football), First Aid certification and Higher English courses at local colleges.

If you are interested in finding out more about how any of the above support may be of use to you, please get in touch and arrange to speak with a member of our youth team.

Social Enterprises

Since 2012, CYP have been creating local employment opportunities through our social enterprises. We currently operate a popular hostel as well as hosting a wide variety of functions (parties, meetings and many other events).

The majority of our staff are young people from the local area – for many, this is their first job. As well as gaining valuable work experience, they also benefit from a variety of different training opportunities. Many are employed as Modern Apprentices, meaning that they complete an SVQ in Hospitality whilst working with us. As an accredited SQA centre, this is something that we deliver in-house. Currently, we also work with SCVO and Stirling Council to offer supported job roles to young people who may require a little more help to build their confidence and get used to the world of work.

As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week 2021, we caught up with two of our Modern Apprentices to find out what their MA's mean to them. You can read about Jack's experience of his youth work qualification and Niall's MA in Rural Skills

Any current vacancies that we have will be listed here.

Callander Landscape Partnership

As part of the Callander Landscape Partnership, CYP helped to deliver a multi-year ‘Heritage Skills’ programme. This was established to empower local young people to gain experience within the hospitality, outdoor tourism and conservation sectors. In total, this project saw 7 young people successfully complete their Modern Apprenticeships – some in Hospitality and some in Rural Skills.

Our Hospitality MA’s split their time between gaining hospitality experience (within our social enterprises) and working towards outdoor qualifications. This included Outdoor First Aid, Mountain Bike Leader training, Hill/Navigation skills, Archery and Canoeing/Rescue qualifications. On the Callander’s Landscape website, you can find out more about Hugh and Jack’s recent experiences of this programme.

Our Rural Skills MA's worked closely with a range of local and national partners. Thanks to funding from Historic Environment Scotland, these MA’s also worked towards a Level 2 award in Cultural Heritage and successfully completed a course at Canal College. Projects included archaeological excavations, natural conservation projects, community volunteer events and an oral history project. Callander’s Landscape spoke to our Rural Skills MA’s about their experiences with the archaeology part of their work – you can find this here.