DYW Innovative Project Showcase

The Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Innovative Projects Showcase took place on Monday 18^th November. Hosted at Ayrshire College Kilmarnock Campus, this event brought together young people, educators and employers to hear about the innovative projects funded through DYW Ayrshire across North, South and East Ayrshire.

Educators from Greenwood Academy, Grange Academy, Queen Margaret Academy, and Lockhart spoke about the impact that the funding has had on creating new projects and pathways for students in the respective schools. The audience also heard from a representative from the Trindlemoss Day Centre about the impact of the funding in creating opportunities for their residents.

The audience then heard from a local authority representative on the impact of the projects and then from the Vice Principal, Skills and Enterprise at Ayrshire College, Anne Campbell, on the College’s involvement over the years.

The event culminated in an opportunity for attendees to meet with the students involved at their showcase which included the schools who presented in the morning along with Prestwick Academy. Attendees were also treated to the talents of students from Largs Academy and Girvan Academy who provided barista support on the day.

Since inception in 2016, over £700,000 has been awarded to innovative projects across Ayrshire by DYW Ayrshire, funded by the Scottish Government. This has created over 150 projects across secondary schools and community groups and includes: Barista, Hair and Beauty, Construction, Bee Keeping, Cycle Maintenance, Upcycling, Rural Skills and many more.

The DYW Ayrshire Innovative Project Fund is part of an annual Scottish Government fund to help expand employer involvement in education and the team were delighted to be joined by many businesses on the day along with local MSPs Brian Whittle MSP and Carol Mochan MSP.

DYW Ayrshire Regional Lead Gillian Longmuir commented ‘We were delighted to welcome along a number of schools and community projects to showcase the fantastic work taking place in schools across Ayrshire. It is unique to Ayrshire that we have this ringfenced funding and we hope this continues for many years to come. These projects could not be the success they are today without our key partners and I would like to thank Ayrshire College and our Local Authorities for their continued support’

Vice Principal, Skills and Enterprise at Ayrshire College, Anne Campbell, said, ‘We have worked collaboratively with DYW Ayrshire since 2017 to offer these innovation projects. We look forward to continuing to work with partners to focus on offering new opportunities in key sectors of interest to Ayrshire such as engineering and aerospace, construction and net zero, food and drink and the visitor economy.