West College Scotland were delighted to host an innovative employment conference for young people with learning difficulties and people on the autistic spectrum at our Greenock Waterfront Campus yesterday. The event was held in collaboration with Values into Action Scotland and the Scottish Commission for Learning Disability.

The event was a culmination of activity to celebrate the success of the Work Ready Plus Programme which was funded by the Scottish Government’s Employability Innovation and Integration Fund. Attended by students past & present and local partner employers, this inspiring day was hosted by comedian, Susan Morrison who kept the audience entertained thoroughly throughout the morning. The proceedings kicked off with a welcome note from our Principal & Chief Executive, Liz Connolly and an introduction from Head of Learner Development, Paul Martin.

One of our student success stories Sean Devlin, who is now a Modern Apprentice with Inverkip Community Hub and started out on a placement as part of the programme, shared his experience along with his manager Kevin Rodgers.

The audience were then treated to a catwalk from a range of students sharing their experience of the programme and now for some the subsequent employment opportunity they achieved. The participants were David McIntyre a student at WCS who has just completed his 8 week work placement at Tail O Bank and is now currently seeking employment, Erin Lindsay who is a Modern Apprentice from Glenfield Care Home, Sean Devlin from the Inverkip Community Hub, Lisa Marie Tout a WCS student looking for employment in Childcare, John Elliot from the Lagoon Sport Centre of Renfrewshire Leisure, Ryan Murphy from Inverclyde Community Trust and Development, John McConnachie from Inverclyde Council, Jaime Lynch student at WCS who has just completed her 8 week work placement at ScotRail and Lee Doherty from Port Glasgow Golf Club.

The event celebrated the successful outcomes of the programme which has seen the students achieve 5 Modern Apprenticeships, 22 in Paid employment, 40 completing the SQA Employability Award, 7 successfully placed on a training programme, 4 who are now volunteering and a further 13 who have been awarded places on mainstream College courses. The course was set up to address the employment gap with only 14 in 100 young adults with learning differences currently moving to positive employment destinations.

Angela Pignatelli, Assistant Principal said, “" We're delighted at our involvement in, and support of, the 'Scotland's Got Talent Employer Conference' at our Waterfront Campus, Greenock.

It was an engaging, inspiring and valuable showcase of our students' skills and talents and the hard work of our staff in getting them to that level.”

She continued, “The employability skills which have been developed are evident through the jobs which have been secured through our 'Certificate of Work Readiness Programme'; a programme which continues to go from strength to strength in enabling those with learning differences and learning difficulties into employment opportunities. The value of this activity cannot be underestimated in changing the lives of those involved and improving their life chances"

Photo - Credit Gordon Jennings

Front row - John Elliot, Lisamarie Tout, Jaime Lynch, Catherine Hurrell (Values Into Action Scotland), Erin Lindsay, John McConnachie, Sean Devlin

Back row – Ryan Murphy, David McIntyre, Lee Docherty, Andrew McCartney