More than 150 third year pupils in Renfrewshire got to grips with traditional building skills at a career-building event held outside Paisley Town Hall earlier this month.

Building on Paisley’s historic environment, the event hopes to encourage more young people to get into traditional building crafts as part of the budding construction industry in the area.

Renfrewshire Council, Morrison Construction and West College Scotland jointly hosted the event, which included talks on college courses, foundation and modern apprenticeships, and the wider opportunities in the constructions field, including graduate apprenticeships and trainee schemes.

Young people took part in taster sessions for traditional skills like wood turning, painting, slating and leadwork, as well as seeing for themselves how some of these skills are being used in the refurbishment of Paisley Town Hall.

Morrison Construction are delivering the town hall transformation and, as part of the contract are delivering a series of benefits to the local community including recruiting local people and providing work experience, training and skills development opportunities.

It also builds upon the council’s work on the Paisley Townscape Heritage and Conservation Area Regeneration Scheme and the wider heritage and culture of Paisley.

Convener for education at Renfrewshire Council, Councillor Emma Rodden, said: “With Paisley and Renfrewshire having a host of historic buildings, these events are a great opportunity for young people to see the value in learning traditional crafts.

“The construction and manufacturing industry is a growing area within Renfrewshire, and we hope that these taster sessions inspired some of our young people to follow a career into the construction field of work.”

David Ewing, managing director for Morrison Construction (Central), said: “We are delighted to be working in Partnership with Renfrewshire Council and West College Scotland to organise the traditional building skills event. We hope that by using the Paisley Town Hall site as a learning tool at this event, we can encourage pupils in Renfrewshire to consider a career in construction and highlight the opportunities within Morrison Construction, our supply chain and the wider industry.”

Paul Lynn, Head of Construction and Building Services at West College Scotland added,

“West College Scotland are committed to providing first class education in Renfrewshire. Events like this help to demonstrate the engaging career and learning opportunities to local young people to help create a talented workforce for the future in Renfrewshire’s building sector.”