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Banff community hub puts focus on employment opportunities


By Kyle Ritchie

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A new community hub launched in Banff has a range of organisations working together which provide support to ensure people seeking employment are not left behind.

The initiative, which utilises the upgraded facilities in the town’s library, has been spearheaded by charity Barnardos working in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and Skills Development Scotland.

Its main aim is to provide people looking to get back into employment – but do not have the resources to do so – with everything they need.

It gives assistance with CV writing, filling out application forms, searching for jobs and applying for posts.

Barnardos project worker Andrew Michie is leading the Banff Community Advice Hub.
Barnardos project worker Andrew Michie is leading the Banff Community Advice Hub.

The advice hub also has a wider remit with weekly workshop information sessions with a variety of groups including Job Centre, Citizens Advice Bureau, Turning Point, Police Scotland and social enterprise Scarf.

Barnardos local project worker Andrew Michie, who is leading the project, said: “This is a pilot scheme and its main objective is to ensure there are no obstacles in the way of people gaining employment.

“It provides support for people getting into work and also guides people to groups that can provide extra assistance.

“The hub can help with things like creating CVs, finding jobs, applying for the roles and helping to arrange interviews and appointments.

“With the digital world ever increasing, the hub can also provide people with the resources they need to help navigate this.

“We also wanted to provide a wider scope of information from different groups in the community, so each week we have workshops with organisations including Turning Point, Citizens Advice Bureau, Houseability, Alzheimers Scotland and Police Scotland.”

The hub is held every Tuesday from 1pm-4pm in Banff Library.

The initial success of the Banff scheme has seen a similar one created in Huntly.

Aberdeenshire Council is one of the main drivers behind the community hub.

A spokeswoman for its employment services said: “We are a specialist employability service for people with disabilities and health-related conditions enabling people to achieve their employment goals.

“At the hub we can provide advice and assistance with employment-related activities like job searching, application forms, CVs, cover letters and mock interviews with additional support in sign-posting when needed.”

Skills Development Scotland is another organisation that has partnered with the charity.

Personal adviser Linda Guy said: “Skills Development Scotland work as part of the Banff Community Advice Hub partnership.

“My remit is to provide employability support for all age groups and I am available on a fortnightly basis at the hub.

“We help anyone who needs to create and target a CV by identifying skills and strengths and helping focus the personal statement part of the CV; look at the best ways to approach applications; and help with interview preparation by looking at techniques and the sort of questions that may be asked.

“I can also refer to my colleagues, if individuals need to talk about their career options and routes into different jobs.

“In addition, we work with the partner agencies to make sure the person is referred to the most appropriate agency for their needs.”

Any group interested in getting involved with the hub can contact Mr Michie by calling 0756 2438444 or by emailing andrew.michie@barnardos.org.uk

The hub is the second initiative that has been launched in the new facilities at Banff Library following in the footsteps of the Library Innovation Network Aberdeenshire.

It is a partnership between the local authority and Robert Gordon University providing support to rural entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.

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