Comhairle nan Eilean Siar joined Western Isles Employability, Developing the Young Workforce, partners, and local employers from around the Western Isles for a partnership event in the Stornoway Town Hall on Thursday 1 February.
The purpose of the event was to bring together local employability partners and employers from around the Western Isles, to share ideas and work in collaboration towards a shared goal. It was to act as a platform to ensure a strategic partnership approach to employability across the islands.
The event was well attended, with over seventy representatives from various sectors being present. The first half of the day was filled with presentations from keynote speakers, followed by individual workshops designed to set The Local Employability Partnerships key priorities for 2024-25.
The event was opened by Cllr Kenny Macleod, Convenor of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar. Susan Macrae, Area Manager at Skills Development Scotland then presented The Local Employability Partnership’s single offer; Angus MacLennan spoke about the importance of Gaelic representation in the future economic landscape and Jennifer Cairns, Rector of the Nicolson Institute, discussed Additional Support Needs for pupils and the importance of positive destinations.
After the presentations, attendees split into smaller groups to work through questions, which aimed at demonstrating how organisations can work in partnership when solving employability needs for individuals on the islands.
Cllr Kenny Macleod, Convenor of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said:
“It is vital to stress the importance of holding events like these, between Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and partners, for the planning and strengthening of our future island workforce. By working together, in close collaboration, we can help tackle inequality and poverty, we can help improve job outcomes, to upskill and retrain those unemployed and to increase skills to meet current and future local economic demand.”
“By working together, we can make sure that our islands can be an attractive place to live, work and learn for generations to come.”
To get involved with future events and find out more information, please email: employability@cne-siar.gov.uk
