Canal College starts
Falkirk Provost Pat Reid joined the first young volunteer participants of Canal College at The Falkirk Wheel on Tuesday 11th June to celebrate the official start of the trailblazing canal-based skills training programme which will run for the next two years.
Designed by the Scottish Waterways Trust to help address youth unemployment in Falkirk and Edinburgh, Canal College will give young people between 16 and 25 years of age, who are not currently in education, employment or training, the opportunity to gain practical work experience and a wide range of heritage and environment skills and awards through projects on the Forth & Clyde and Union canals and at the Falkirk Wheel.
Funded
The £468,189 Canal College has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Union Interreg IVB North West Europe programme, Scottish Natural Heritage and Scottish Canals, and will help teach young people not just about the past and present of the canals but also show them their potential role in helping preserve them for the future.
Karen Moore, Chief Executive, Scottish Waterways Trust, added:
"This is a momentous day for the Scottish Waterways Trust as we launch our largest, most ambitious project to date. On average, 63% of young people successfully completing our entry level employ-ability programme, Green Action, move into employment, training, further education or a new volunteering role. Canal College, which represents the next level up, gives us the opportunity to reach as many as 150 young people who are currently furthest from employment helping them move on similarly to a positive new role."
Practical projects
During the 14 weeks course, the volunteer participants and volunteer mentors will carry out a range of practical projects and work towards a number of awards and certificates.
Projects include landscaping, tree planting and vegetation management, wildlife conservation, trail creation, canal engineering, maintenance, management and customer service.
Each course over the next two years will move forward a ‘Signature Project'. In Falkirk this will be the shallow excavation of the historic Falkirk Lock Flight, which used to take boats a day to traverse. Today, the journey between the Forth & Clyde and Union canals takes a matter of minutes on the world's only rotating boat lift—the Falkirk Wheel.
Buried locks
The volunteer mentors and participants will learn how to undertake surveys of buried locks and listed structures with archaeological surveyors, learn about archiving and researching and discover the engineering behind the canal network.
Towards the end of the programme, all will be given help with job seeking and interview skills leading to a Presentation Skills Certificate. They will also receive a canal college Award for completing the programme.
The next Edinburgh and Falkirk courses will begin in September. Those interested in registering, should call Alan Forrester on 07768 951740.