Impact Arts

Young people in Glasgow have
showcased their newly-learned environmental skills to the Scottish Government’s Employability and Training Minister.

Jamie Hepburn MSP got his hands
dirty during a visit today to our workshop
in Dennistoun.

He met 15 young people on the Creative Pathways programme, which has an 88% success rate in placing
people between the ages of 16 and 19 in jobs, further education and training. The
programme is part of a larger movement called Our Bright Future, that supports
young people to lead progressive change in their communities and local
environment.

And under the guidance of the
youngsters, he even turned his hand to creating ‘seed bombs’, which are used to
quickly introduce new plant life to inaccessible areas.

The visit was organised by
Inspiring Scotland, who provided the funds which allowed Impact Arts to deliver
the Creative Pathways programme to young people in the area.

Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for
Employability and Training, said: “The young people I met were full of
enthusiasm and fantastic advocates for the Creative Pathways programme.

“The work being done by Impact
Arts is creating lasting change – benefiting not just those taking part but the
wider community too.

“Creative and inspiring
approaches like this are central to our strategy for young people in the
workforce, and will help us to achieve
our ambition of a 40% reduction in youth employment by 2020.”

Fiona Doring, acting director, Impact
Arts, said: “Our aim is to help young people to lead progressive change in
their communities and local environment. We’re currently working with a group
of teenagers who are learning new skills and will then give the space a
makeover so it can be used by the local community in Bridgeton.

“It was a pleasure to welcome Mr
Hepburn to our workshop – I know the young people were thrilled to show off
their skills and hopefully he enjoyed taking part in the hands-on activities!”