Now is the perfect time for colleges and employers to work together
Throughout these uncertain times, our message to everyone has been consistent and clear: colleges are here to help. Colleges have so much to offer, not just to individuals, but to organisations and local communities too.
With so much doom and gloom in the news, it's easy to forget about the exciting opportunities that lie ahead.
Last year's announcement regarding the Ayrshire Growth Deal - a £250m investment into Ayrshire to help drive economic growth - has huge possibilities for Ayrshire College and the region.
Our Kilwinning Campus is set to open a new Future Skills Hub in late 2021, providing first-class Engineering, Construction and SMART Technologies training for people in Ayrshire, for generations.
Now in its fourth year, the Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) is going from strength to strength, supporting up to £15k training support for Scottish Apprentice Levy paying private, public and third sector organisations. Our recent virtual FWDF event attracted 24 companies from across Ayrshire and we look forward to providing skills training in the months ahead.
All of these examples illustrate that there is a tremendous amount of good coming to Ayrshire, and the rest of Scotland. We cannot pretend that there will no major challenges and uncertainty ahead, but equally we cannot ignore all of the opportunities that lie in wait.
Colleges are ready to help you through the challenges. Colleges will play an essential part in economic recovery by supporting businesses in training, upskilling, reskilling, innovation and co-design of business systems and processes.
The college model is ever-changing. We are not solely about supporting young people through college courses and into employment. Colleges do so much more vital work in the community and with local employers.
At Ayrshire College, our Business Growth team is ready to deliver on their fresh and innovative ideas for supporting employers. This year we are offering an array of virtual classroom courses open to individuals, companies and wider organisations across Ayrshire and beyond. We can support you to learn and improve your digital, leadership and management skills from home or the office.
The Business Growth team excels in tailoring training courses to suit our customers' business needs. We would encourage you to get in touch at businessgrowth@ayrshire.ac.uk to discuss your needs and our team will actively work with you to design and deliver an appropriate training solution.
Now more than ever, colleges are here to support you.
25 September 2020
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