A PROJECT to help men find jobs in what are viewed as female-dominated sectors, like health and social care, has won the backing of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust in Scotland.
The Trust awarded a £50,000 grant to the ‘Men into Childcare’ project which aims to provide training opportunities for young and long term unemployed men in Cumnock and other former mining areas in East Ayrshire.
Janice Hendry, development director with Yipworld.com, which will run the programme, said: “Our research has shown that over half the workforce is male, yet the sectors with the highest employment opportunities are health and social work which are female dominated.
“Our training programme will combine personal development, IT Training, and training for an SVQ in Child Work or in Play Work.”
The programme will involve ten men in the16-25 age group, and will run for a year. Organisers hope at the end of it the participants will move on to seek a career in primary school teaching, social work or nursing.
Janice Hendry added: “We believe this new and unique project has the potential for addressing the gender imbalance in the independent and public sector early education and childcare workforce.”
Nicky Wilson, Scottish Trustee of the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, said: “We are delighted to support this initiative which is taking such an original approach to helping people in former mining areas into work.”
“The Men into Childcare project was one of five main grants worth £155,000 which we approved at our last meeting.
“The other projects in West Lothian, Falkirk, Clackmannanshire and Fife will help 75 people into work, reflecting the priority we are devoting to job creation and training initiatives.”
The other projects approved were: Blackburn and Seafield Credit Union, which received a £15,000 grant, Falkirk Council’s Gairdoch Park Training and Employment Initiative, £46,000, Clackmannan Crossroads Staff Professional Development, £14,000 and Adam Smith College, Kirkcaldy ‘Step up to Retail’ training courses, £30,000.
The Trust also approved £50,000 of funding for Bridging the Gap projects from community initiatives to help elderly and physically disadvantaged people with routine maintenance to funding youth workers’ posts.
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Note to Editors:
1. The Coalfields Regeneration Trust was formed in 1999 to help mining communities recover from the devastating effects of pit closures. Since then the Trust has spent over £15m in Scotland supporting over 500 community-based and job creation projects in the hardest hit areas.
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