Eight young people have just completed an ‘Access To Industry’ and Meta Skills’ programme and rebuilt a traditional roundhouse at Lochore.

This comes as a result of a partnership between Lochore Meadows Country Park, Fife Councils Employability Team, Rural Skills Scotland, Community Learning and Development, Darcy Thomson Centre, and Outdoor Education Fife.

Central Fife Times: The eight young people worked hard to create a traditional roundhouse.The eight young people worked hard to create a traditional roundhouse. (Image: Lochore Meadows Country Park)

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The park’s ethos is conservation, education, and recreation and the focus is creating pathways to jobs in the green skills industry. This can help young people gain employment in a range of jobs including maintenance, estates work, and forestry.

Young people who take part in these programmes get a training allowance, undertake a variety of training courses, and are supplied with PPE. 

Rural Skills Scotland are also running their ‘Grounds for Growth’ programme in the park where young people work with partners on a variety of projects. One of the participants has gained paid employment with the contractors working on the new destination playpark at Lochore.

Stewart Christie from Rural Skills Scotland said: “We are acutely aware that across the country the land-based sector are working extremely hard to attract new talent that perhaps had never either thought of a career working outdoors or have never had the opportunity up until now.

“This project builds on the previous AIMS project, continues to develop the park whist providing real opportunities for local people.”