The duration of March 2016 saw Springboard promote a series of events and activities as part of Scottish Tourism Careers Festival. The industry galvanised to showcase the dynamic Scottish tourism industry where excellent career opportunities are available. The industry opened its doors to highlight the jobs and services available to young people considering careers in the tourism, hospitality and leisure industry.
The FutureChef Central and South Scotland Dinner marked the official launch of Careers Festival. Supported by Thistle Hotel, over 100 guests were in attendance with 11 competitors from 11 regions (from a pool of over 1600 young people from 59 schools) across Central and South Scotland. Invited guests included parents, teachers, head teachers, mentor chefs, judges and industry specialists. The event was highly successful and saw parents and schools networking with the industry and forming links with Further Education establishments.
The Glasgow Tourism Trail took place on 16th March. 5 Glasgow schools followed a discovery trail around the city centre which highlighted the tourism of the city and drew attention to the jobs available. On the same day the winners of the Keys to the Castle Competition that Springboard ran in conjunction with Historic Scotland were invited to Glasgow City Chambers on Wed 16th March to receive their certificates and take part in the Glasgow Tourism Trail along with their classmates. The winning vlog which featured Glasgow Cathedral as a Tourism destination can be found here
Glasgow Tourism Trail
On 22nd March 2016, pupils from Craigroyston School were introduced to Springboard’s FutureChef Programme, which now involves over 8,000 students annually. Springboard presented the FutureChef Academy and were joined by a team from Apex Hotel which included Apex Head Chef Vladdmir Kruus, Scotland HR Manager Jacqui Alt, Head of Learning, Development and Quality Angela Newton, and Recruitment Officer and Springboard Ambassador Keith Spedding.
Elaine Grey, Head of Home Economics at Craigroston School, said, “The overarching theme of the school [Craigroyston] is employment. We see the chef initiative meeting a need in Scotland and ensuring our young people are on a quality pathway to employment. We are proactive in working with businesses and have many exciting partnership projects within and out with the school.”
On 24th March 2016 Springboard Scotland and the Glasgow City Council Culinary Excellence Programme worked to bring two Glasgow Schools together. The schools were given the opportunity to take part in a ‘Hotel Takeover’ with the Village Hotel Glasgow. Twelve pupils from Whitehill Secondary School and Lochend Secondary School were chosen to take part in this exciting initiative.
Hotel Takeover
The pupils worked in activities across four departments (front of house, kitchen, housekeeping and spa/gym) and then worked with the Events Team to set up an event hosted by the hotel. They experienced a real working environment in the process, as they assisted in serving dinner, after which they themselves dined in the Village Hotel restaurant.
Jamie Stevens, General Manager, Village Hotel Club Glasgow said, “The future of the hospitality industry starts at grassroots level and it’s important for young people to appreciate that it offers a career choice with huge potential for training, development and progression.”
Springboard Ambassador courses took place in Edinburgh at the Apex Hotel 7th-8th March and in Perth and Dundee 30th-31st March. Ambassadors are motivated individuals working in the industry who spread their passion about the opportunities in the industry and promote their brand to potential recruits. There are currently 1500 trained.
The Careers festival provided a platform for a wide range of events and activities which aimed to attract new talent into the tourism sector and improve the image and appeal of the sector as a viable career choice. Springboard’s ongoing work within the education and tourism industry aims to further establish key links between the two in order to promote careers in hospitality leisure and tourism.
Kelly Johnstone, Springboard Scotland Director said, “Scottish Tourism Careers Festival 2016 was a great success where we worked closely with Skills Development Scotland on improving the image of the industry, raising the appeal of the sector and helping bridge the skills gap. Our passion to share what a great industry this is to work in and an ever growing one in Scotland is spread over the country by our industry Ambassadors who promote the industry as a great place to work based on their own experiences. Our continued work with Developing Young Workforce and Education Scotland ensures we are able to build some really strong programmes and modules that complement the curriculum of excellence and give young people direct links to industry. We look forward to more events coming up this year. Watch this space!”
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