Apprentice given the righttools

An apprentice joined more than 100 former Ayrshire College students in being rewarded with a set of tools.

Darren Thomson, 28, from Ayr, is now an apprentice joiner with Cowan and Davidson and his apprenticeship sees him return to Ayrshire College to study a City & Guilds Diploma in Site Carpentry and PDA Carpentry & Joinery at SCQF Level 6. And he’s got the necessary tools to carry him a long way in the industrythanks to the continued generosity of the John Mather Charitable Trust.

John Mather - who started working with Clydeport at the age of 16 and worked his way up to the position of chairman- set up the Trust in 1996 to help young people in the West of Scotland get started in the workplace.

Since then, over a thousand students at Ayrshire College have benefitted from the Trust’s support. This year, 127 Ayrshire College graduates from beauty therapy, complementary therapy, hairdressing, make-up artistry, hospitality, aeronautical engineering, engineering and renewables, horticulture, motor vehicle, and trades, will all receive a set of tools worth £118.

College principal Carol Turnbull said: “Receiving these tools at the start of their careers is a welcome bonus for all of our students’ hard work at college.”