The ‘Future Ready’ project is funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision with Invest Renfrewshire and encourages youngsters to gain experience and qualifications at the academy.

Each month, two learners attend the academy for two weeks before completing a week of work experience. Since the project began, 10 young people have earned valuable credentials and taken a big step towards finding and sustaining employment.

There’s a full range of fun and interesting subjects for young people to get involved in. By trying out different topics, they discover what they truly enjoy and might want to pursue as a career. Time has been spent in the Painting and Decorating workshops, the Horticulture and Gardening polytunnels and Catering and Hospitality industrial kitchen space.

Meet Some of Our Future Ready Students

Meet the chef-in-the-making

Meet one of the young gardeners

The young person found enjoyment in going outside and being active, seeing their gardening projects take shape through their care, creativity and effort. Exploring plants, tools and how things grow has sparked a passion for transforming outdoor spaces.

The aspiring young gardener is looking forward to their final week’s work experience at St Mirren Football Club’s Training Complex. They’ll learn first-hand from the professional Groundskeeper and help maintain the grass and Astro-turf pitches in all weather conditions, gaining skills and experience to turn their passion for gardening into real-life experience. The young person is ready to be part of a team and see the first-team in action, making a real contribution to a premiership club.

Young people have found their time at the academy extremely fulfilling with one saying: “I couldn’t wait to see what I’d learn each day instead of the usual school routine.”

Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa Wardlaw is proud to support young people develop aspirations for their future: “The smiles from young people highlights the value of our supportive environment and practical lessons in boosting confidence, motivation and employability.  ‘Future Ready’ funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision has strengthened the of number life-changing opportunities we can offer young people.”

Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa. Photo taken by Chris James.

Through real-world placements, each young person can step confidently towards a future career.

A young person interested in cooking learned the basics of working in a professional kitchen, preparing healthy meals, understanding food hygiene and making meals from scratch. The young person began to visualise herself in a career crafting meals, inventing recipes and helping fuel the team to victory and supporting the players reach success.

The learning journey continues. For the final week’s work experience placement, she will go to St Mirren Football Club’s Training Complex in Ralston and spend time within their elite kitchen facilities, alongside a close-knit team of chefs and cooks, preparing meals for the first-team squad and youth players. She will also have the responsibility of traveling there herself to give her the full experience of having a career in the industry.

Keith Lasley, Chief Operation Officer at St Mirren Football Club shared how impressed he was by the youngsters completing work experience. He said: “St Mirren Football Club wants the entire community to thrive. Our aim is to be the best community-centred football club in Scotland the partnership with 91���� means big steps can be taken to tackle youth employment across Renfrewshire.”

“We’ve welcomed young people into our catering team and their energy and enthusiasm has added real value to our hospitality operations, helping to fuel players and fans while motivating our wider team, knowing we are all working towards a bigger picture. The involvement with 91���� and the Future Ready project funded by Renfrewshire Employability Provision has added a strong altruistic element to the way we work and is in line with our pillars of Paisley, People and Performance.”

91���� is dedicated to helping young people develop skills for learning, life and work.

About 91����’s Skills Academy

The Skills Academy has an education and training centre in Hillington and additional locations at St Mirren Football Club’s stadium and training complex. The partnership with a Scottish Premiership football team lets young people complete real-life development projects in a business environment, boosting their confidence. The work experience helps strengthen their CV, helping them progress toward becoming professional painters.

The Purpose of 91����’s Partnership with St Mirren Football Club

The partnership between 91���� and a Scottish Premiership team aims to help Renfrewshire, and the people who live in the area, to thrive.

St Mirren is a community-centred football club focused on delivering positive results on and off the pitch. By growing the club, the wider community benefits too. The club wants to deliver an outstanding match day experience to all and are prepared to invest in facilities. The decision was made to renovate Club 1877 into a stylish event space for fans. Steps were taken to transform Club 1877 into an exclusive bar and lounge hospitality venue.

Students learning trades at 91����’s Skills Academy were to be involved in the project, helping to address youth employment and boost young workforce development.

Let’s Renovate Club 1877

Club 1877 development plans began, and 91���� Graphic Designer Michelle visualised a brand-new layout, reinventing Club 1877 into a bright, modern and unique event space.

Michelle and the design plan.

To bring the design process to life, highly skilled professionals had to work alongside one another, ensuring every detail had a quality finish. The project required collaboration between external companies as well as 91����’s Skills Academy. Young people had the opportunity to apply their trade skills to the full refurbishment.

Painting and Decorating Instructor Paul is a mentor to students from The Skills Academy. Paul led the young apprentices as members of the renovation team.

Club 1877 was one of the biggest projects to date for the young people. Immediately, the students agreed they were up for the challenge, happy for the chance to show off their painting and decorating skills.

Instructor Paul described the important role of The Skills Academy: “A full decoration was required as the area had been extended and was to be transformed.”

“Firstly, I oversaw young people complete ames taping, which is a specialised technique that is an alternative to plastering. It is an essential task, although repetitive, yet the young apprentices were keen to get involved and remained interested. They were determined to perfect their technique and finalise the smooth surface. I explained that the time taken to ames tape would benefit the paint finish, which young people fully understood. It was brilliant to watch them see the transformation from beginning to end. Their motivation continued throughout the project as the space began to take shape as we moved through the design process.”

A highlight for Instructor Paul was seeing young people share their passion with external companies: “Young people enjoyed working with St Mirren and tying in with external companies. I was impressed with how professional they interacted with others. St Mirren Health and Safety Manager, Mark and the team from Halliday Construction as well as others, all joined in with supporting the youngsters. We worked together as we had a shared determination to make sure every detail was complete to the highest standard. There was the added incentive to show young people the value of helping create a space people enjoy being in. Everyone encouraged the young apprentices and made them feel part of the team.”

The young people involved were proud of the new Club 1877 – Paul confirmed that was clear to see: “Once Club 1877 was renovated, one of the young people involved asked me to take photos of him in the area as he wanted to show his family what we’d been working on. I found it incredibly rewarding to know the young person felt proud of contributing to the renovation.”

“The high-profile, real-life design project was exactly what young people needed to advance their skill level. Every task – whether seemingly small or significant – the young apprentices were up for trying as they knew the purpose of the task was to create a space for actual people to use.”

Instructor Paul and the students from The Skills Academy were pleased to help contribute with the transformative end result: “The before and after of Club 1877 can only be described as night and day. It began with Designer Michelle seeing the potential – her design brief gave us an understanding of the expectations and inspired us to get to work. It took patience, care and a range of trade skills but we all worked closely together to design a space we hope will be enjoyed by fans.”

The renovation project has completely transformed Club 1877 into a stylish bar and lounge hospitality venue.

Keith Lasley, Chief Operating Officer at St Mirren Football Club expressed gratitude to the young people involved in the refurbishment of Club 1877: “Their hard work, creativity and attention to detail have played a vital role in transforming the space into a modern, high-quality venue that our supporters can enjoy on match days and for private events.”

“This project reflects the strength of the partnership between St Mirren and 91����, providing young people with opportunities to develop their skills in a real working environment while delivering outstanding results for the club.”

“My thanks go to the young people, their instructors, our professional contractors, the design team and our club staff.”

The result was an impressive transformation made possible due to help from 91����’s Skills Academy students

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Now it’s your turn to make an impact in young people’s lives. Apply now to work at 91���� and build a career inspiring young people to thrive.

Our partnership with St Mirren exists to strengthen youth employment for young people who may have faced adverse life experiences. The Groundskeeper Traineeship is an example of how together, we are motivating young people think about their future and be ambitious in creating a positive livelihood for themselves.

Young learners who attended The Skills Academy, 91����’s education and training centre, were eligible to apply and interview for the role of Groundskeeper Trainee. The application process required preparation and was set-up to give young people first-hand experience of what it would be like to look for jobs or apply to college or university. The role involved commitment therefore applicants had to remain calm and overcome any nerves while demonstrating their commitment and willingness to consistently arrive on time, concentrate and listen to instructions.

St Mirren General Manager, Lynsey explained young people would receive training from the club’s skilled grounds expert and be mentored in how to become a Groundskeeper themselves: “Through the Groundskeeper Traineeship, a young person works at St Mirren’s training complex at Ralston. They learn how to maintain the grass pitch and Astro Turf pitch as well as how to safely operate machinery, while meeting new people and being part of a friendly and hard-working team.”

The Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa described the benefits of partnering with St Mirren: “Young people gain hands-on, real-life experiences and see what an actual job is like”

91���� Principal Teacher, Tracey with St Mirren General Manager, Lynsey and Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa.

The first successful Groundskeeper Trainee was an outgoing young person who enjoyed spending time outdoors and enthusiastically took on their allocated key responsibilities. They thrived within the fast-paced routine of a Scottish premiership and became a valuable asset to the team.

91���� Chief Executive, Jim confirmed the partnership between one of the largest children’s charities and a Scottish premiership football team is making a difference to the lives of young people: “The Groundskeeper Traineeship demonstrates true value in 91���� and St Mirren joining forces to boost youth employment. Young people gain entrepreneurial, practical and academic qualifications that can enhance their CV and increase job opportunities while also teaching transferable life skills.”

“The experience of being amongst a real-life business motivates them to consider, sometimes for the first time ever, higher education or a rewarding job role.”

“We have put the support in place for young learners to get outside the classroom and realise they can succeed in building a positive life for themselves.”

91���� and St Mirren development projects have included renovating St Mirren’s SMISA Stadium Hospitality Entrance, painting and decorating at the stadium too and refurbishing the training complex changing room plus more.

The Groundskeeper Traineeship is now preparing for the next new recruit to begin.

The Open Day welcomed local businesses, colleges and universities, Social Enterprise Academy and The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework to experience The Skills Academy for themselves. All were impressed by the vast size of the academy and the breadth of the courses and workshops held for young people. The ambitious masterplan to revolutionise The Skills Academy into Scotland’s leading education and training centre was shared and those in the audience were encouraged to “Be Part of the Future”.

Organisations were made aware of the opportunities to join in and help young learners gain the confidence and skills required to believe in themselves and start work. Already, businesses including St Mirren and Ryder Architecture are working alongside the academy to offer apprenticeship-inspired roles and work experience placements for young people to learn within a real-life thriving business.

A highlight of the event was the interactive panel session with young people. The best people to describe The Skills Academy are those who attend the centre. Three young people shared their own personal involvement with the academy.

One young person is developing skills in catering and helped prepare the buffet lunch for the Open Day. Their expertise is also a valuable part of the team who organise the catering for St Mirren’s match day hospitality. However, their overall life goal is to become a pilot and the academy’s support with these aspirations has led to a workshop with Leading Edge Training Centre near Glasgow Airport.

Another young person who’s sense of humour made everyone laugh is determined to be an interior designer. Currently, completing qualifications in Painting and Decorating, the aspiring-designer has helped redecorate areas in St Mirren’s SMISA stadium.

The candid and straight-forward young person shared their honest belief at the impact the academy has had on them:

“If it wasn’t for The Skills Academy, I wouldn’t have got any qualifications.”

The powerful comment emphasises the importance of The Skills Academy and the demand to create a supportive educational environment that can tailor learning styles to those who want to build a rewarding career based on fields of study that genuinely interest them.

The third young person confidently spoke to the room as if talking amongst friends. Although open-minded about the future, The Skills Academy has given a true understanding of the various options available. Currently studying mechanics and helping Instructor Ross manage the large fleet of 91���� vehicles, the overall plan is to go into engineering. Through the academy’s business partnerships, a work placement with Ryder Architecture is planned for the summer.

An audience member asked, ‘what has been the greatest experience at The Skills Academy?’ and the mechanic-apprentice replied:

“It’s not just one great opportunity The Skills Academy has given us, instead it’s lots of different opportunities. We’ve had the chance to discover different industries, which has let us see what we prefer and enjoy.”

The three young people on the panel exemplified what The Skills Academy stands for. Each one displays confidence and enthusiastically discusses their future plans. The motivation showed by young people at The Skills Academy Open Day assured everyone in the room that the young generation has the potential to positively change the world.  

The entire staff team including 91���� CEO, Jim; Director of Corporate Services, Mark; Head Teacher, Leona; Head of The Skills Academy, Lisa; Education Manager, Tracey and Employability Coordinator, Gillian were extremely proud of the young people for participating in the panel.

Practical skills are essential for aspiring painter and decorators and the students were extremely motivated to put their techniques into practice. Their SCQF Level 4 qualification in Construction Craft and Technician involves learning about different paint types, paint brushes, plastering and how to apply the various paints. The design brief requested St Mirren’s iconic black and white stripes as a feature wall and all young painters excelled at the attention to detail required for the real-life construction project.

Skills Academy Instructor Paul gave credit to the students, sharing that their enthusiasm inspires him to be the best educator possible. He said: “Being able to provide young people with valuable work experience is an essential part of The Skills Academy’s purpose to equip young people with life-long skills and the self-belief to build a bright future for themselves.”

“The students completed the project with great professionalism.”

Instructor Paul

St Mirren’s first team changing room transformation is a tangible example of young peoples’ incredible achievements and joins the club’s training complex renovation and hospitality entrance refurbishment. 91����’s partnership with St Mirren continues to develop a fun and engaging young workforce development programme, which empowers young people and enhances employability.

Look at the Finished Result

Skills Academy Instructor Paul has been a painter since leaving school and has redecorated houses, schools and various council buildings. Now he has his most fulfilling role yet, passing on trade skills to ambitious young people.

Together, young people and Paul carryout maintenance and developments at St Mirren Football Club’s SMISA Stadium and Training Complex. Recent projects completed by The Skills Academy involved redecorating the club’s first-team changing room at the stadium and renovating the floor at the training grounds.

“In my role at The Skills Academy, I have a purpose. I want to be the best version of myself and be a role model to young people.”

Instructor Paul

Instructor Paul continued, “At The Skills Academy, young people are given responsibilities to help carryout exciting practical projects – projects that motivate me and them! While I am always there to help them, young people themselves must also problem-solve and use their own initiative and they are extremely determined to finish any task to a highly professional standard.”

“It is fantastic to see young people grow in confidence and maturity due to their experience carryout our work placements.”

 “I was inspired to change my career during the global pandemic and the dedication shown by essential workers. I wanted to find a new a job and be someone who made a difference.”

“My daughter’s friend told me she wanted to grow up and be a Doctor. I asked, ‘Why?’ – and I must admit I thought she would mention the good salary. However, she replied, ‘to help people’.”

“I decided myself to re-evaluate the reason for going to work every day and to start a rewarding career that I was proud of.”

“It is a privilege to spend time with young people and hopefully help them build their own rewarding career.”

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Careers at 91����

Paul shared, “I began my Career at 91���� by finding out about the new job through a friend. I was searching for jobs in Paisley, where I live and had heard about 91���� and when my friend explained the role, I knew I had to look further into 91����’s career opportunities.”

“The role of Skill’s Academy Instructor answered my search for a meaningful and rewarding job. I enjoy coming to work.”

An amber weather warning for Renfrewshire was issued as gale force winds were forecasted. The gusts of up to 60MPH headed towards St Mirren’s SMISA Stadium and managed to damage the dug-out area.

The stadium’s open space accelerated the wind, which flew past the football pitch shelters and impacted the advertising boards that proudly feature the club crest and main sponsor, Digby Brown.

91����’s Skills Academy swiftly began repairs. Young people who attend the academy to gain construction qualifications carryout development projects and maintenance across the stadium and training grounds. The real-life work placements contribute towards their coursework. Alongside their instructors, young people were qualified to answer the call-out.

The Skill’s Academy Construction Instructor, Craig, said: “To see the confidence young people have in taking initiative to solve any issue presented to them is brilliant. We want to continue working side-by-side with St Mirren to suggest new ideas and keep young people motivated.”

“Young people enjoy learning valuable trade skills and seeing a project progress from beginning to end is the best way to keep them interested in achieving their qualifications.”

The Skills Academy is our education and training centre with locations in Hillington as well as St Mirren’s SMISA Stadium and Training Complex. Young people gain qualifications and practical skills within subjects they enjoy. Overall, our hope is to strengthen employability skills and help them to develop a fulfilling career.

Students have shown great enthusiasm and determination in developing trade skills through The Skills Academy by choosing to gain SCQF Level 4 qualifications in Painting and Decorating, and Construction Craft and Technician.

As part of the coursework young people have gained experience in the real-life business setting of St Mirren, learning from professional trainer, Craig Dunn. The young apprentices have been a key support in maintaining the stadium and training ground to the stringent health and safety standards. The main developments at the Training Complex have included renovating St Mirren’s first team gym floor and changing room floor. The large-scale projects had to be completed in a timely manner and fit in with the busy football fixtures and strict training schedule.

One young person excelled in renovating replacing changing room floor with the experience contributing to their joinery unit. Education Manager, Tracey Jardine commented on how much the student’s confidence grew from the opportunity to showcase their skillset.

Great attention to detail was essential while working and pace and all students involved exceeded expectations. The vast improvement and craftmanship was noticed immediately with first team manager, Stephen Robinson praising the quality of the complete refurbishment.

Younger pupils have seen the transformations that have been a result of the expertise learned by the older Skills Academy students who are completing their construction qualifications, which has inspired more youngsters to follow suit and explore a similar career path.

Jim Gillespie, Chief Executive, 91���� said: “We partnered with St Mirren to be able to offer young people the opportunity to develop their skillset and gain valuable qualifications while learning in a real-life business setting.

“To see students enthusiastically want to be involved with real project developments and give thought into their career prospects and plan for future is extremely motivating. The work 91���� does makes a huge difference to the lives of young people and we will continue to grow and achieve our vision of giving young people a chance at life.”

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