Apprenticeships up for grabs

A new land-based apprenticeship programme has been launched by farm business cooperative Ringlink (Scotland) Ltd for young people aged 16 and over.

The cooperative, which is based in Laurencekirk, has been running an internship programme for the past five years which was successful in attracting new entrants to the sector.

Their new land-based preapprenticeship scheme will be accredited by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) as a vocational qualification and will provide an introduction into working environments for young people and provide them with the support of mentors.

Candidates will undertake a three-week residential induction at SRUC prior to commencing six months of full-time employment in a suitable rural business.

Ringlink’s managing director, Graham Bruce, said he was encouraged by the support the scheme had received from industry, sponsors and government to date, but emphasised that attracting a sustainable funding stream was paramount.

“We will not yield until we achieve this goal,” he said.

“To hear recently that the pre-apprenticeship programme has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Scottish Rural Awards 2018 is great news and this is testament to everyone’s efforts who have worked on this project to produce a first-class programme, for young people looking to enter the land-based sector.”

Applications are now open for the programme and 15 places are on offer. New mentors are also being sought.

For further details, visit www.ringlinkscotland.co.uk/ pre-apprenticeship

Picture: Jim Irvine. Graham Bruce, managing director of Ringlink.