Fallkirk social landlord earns praise for creating job opportunities for young people

Gill Jardine, DWP senior customer service leader for Forth Valley, acknowledged Link’s commitment to the Kickstart scheme when she visited Link Academy in Falkirk.

She presented Sarah Smith, Link’s group director of communities, Grant Alexander, Link’s head of community well being, and Nicky Paton, Link’s head of practice and

participation, with a certificate during her visit earlier in the year.

Sarah said: “We are delighted to receive recognition for our role in supporting Kickstart and are proud so many young people across Scotland have boosted their employment skills due to their placement at Link.

“It has been hugely pleasing to see the feedback from our supervisors who have been uniformly impressed with the young people taking part in Kickstart. Many of

whom have possessed a ‘can do’ attitude and have fitted in straight away to busy areas of our business.

“It is so rewarding giving young people the opportunity to develop their skills in the world of work and then seeing them forge ahead in their chosen careers. It has also

been great for colleagues across Link to work alongside and support younger people who are just starting out in their careers”

Kickstart is a scheme funded by the DWP to support young people with real-life work experiences, in a paid environment, along with training and guidance over six

months. Link has participated in Kickstart since 2020.

Young people have been able to take up a number of posts at Link, including trainee receptionist, quality assurance administrative assistant, trainee PSL lease admin assistant and communications assistant.

Out of the 56 young people who took part in Kickstart over the last 18 months, 36 per cent of them achieved full-time employment following completion of the training, while 27 per cent undertook part-time employment, and seven per cent embarked on full-time or part-time education.

One participant of the scheme stated: “It has greatly improved my confidence in finding future employment. I have learned about different types of communication,

different ways to de-escalate a situation and how to structure my communications."