Ayrshire Roads Alliance career open day
The Ayrshire Roads Alliance threw open its doors recently welcoming young people from across East and South Ayrshire to learn more about the many careers available within the service.
Brian Gibson, Contracts Manager and Ailie Law from the Improvement Service’s Roads Collaboration Programme, hosted the event and invited young people from every secondary school in East and South Ayrshire to Gauchalland Depot.
They set up different stations for the young people to view the type of work carried out by the Alliance, including white lining, resurfacing, gully cleaning, gritting, paving and street lighting. The Roads team spent time with the young people explaining each task and the highly technical specifications that they need to follow to comply with all relevant roads legislation.
Former Modern Apprentices, who are now working in a range of roles within the Alliance including roads operatives, drivers and engineers, took time to speak to the young people about their own careers, the opportunities available and the best route into employment.
Brian Gibson said: “The Ayrshire Roads Alliance has a 100% success rate of supporting our Modern Apprentices into full time employment. We provide our young people with training, guidance, sometimes work related and sometimes personal and an environment designed for success.
“The team felt that it would be beneficial to work with Education within East and South Ayrshire Councils to hold an open day for young people from every secondary school. The event would give young people the opportunity to experience the types of careers on offer and the routes they could take to employment and training. The feedback from our young people was overwhelmingly positive. They asked great questions and participated in each sessions with enthusiasm.
“The Alliance has six Modern Apprentices at the moment working in a range of roles, we were interviewing for two Modern Apprentices for Girvan depot this week and the next intake will be in November.”
Councillor Jim Roberts, Cabinet Member for Economy and Infrastructure said: “The team from the Ayrshire Roads Alliance works with our young people ensuring that Modern Apprentices are encouraged to succeed. Former Modern Apprentices are now working within the Alliance and studying for qualifications including civil engineering. The open day was a great opportunity for young people, who maybe aren’t sure what path they want to take when they leave school, to talk to our employees and learn more about the variety of careers on offer.
“I would like to thank the whole team at Gauchalland Depot for being so generous with their time, for creating such a worthwhile event and encouraging our young people to succeed.”
Ailie Law said: “The Roads Collaboration Programme was delighted to be involved in the Ayrshire Roads Alliance open day at Gauchalland Road depot. The event was the ideal opportunity to connect employers with local schools to support young people to be better prepared for the world of work.
“Demonstrations and hands on activities help to prepare young people who may be considering a career in the roads sector and gives teachers an insight into workplace practices.”
Notes to editors
The national improvement service for local government in Scotland – additional information
The purpose of the Improvement Service is to help councils and their partners to improve the health, quality of life and opportunities of all people in Scotland through community leadership, strong local governance and the delivery of high quality, efficient local services.
They do this by providing a range of products and providing advisory services including consultation and facilitation, learning and skills, performance management and improvement, and research.