As part of Sharkey’s community support initiative our Account Director Mark Halliday and Account Manager Scott Hagart, led a successful 2-day programme in our Edinburgh HQ in conjunction with The Royal Bank of Scotland and Street Soccer Scotland. The programme was designed with the aim of motivating a group of individuals through a series of employment workshops and light-hearted teambuilding challenges with the ultimate goal of empowering the participants with the skills and confidence necessary to break the cycle of social exclusion and secure a positive destination.
The charity Street Soccer Scotland, founded in March 2009, was inspired by how sport and in particular, football can be the catalyst for positive social change. Street Soccer Scotland use football-inspired training and personal development as a medium to empower individuals who are affected by social exclusion to make positive changes in their lives.
The participants, Ricky Moore, Tom Hilson and Raymond Hamilton were coached and guided in areas including preparing for an interview, understanding human resources, health & safety, team building, motivation, teamwork and attitudes, behaviour in the workplace and mock employment interviews, allowing the team members to benefit from practical experience of what to expect when entering the working environment.
Sharkey were also delighted to further support the participants by donating laptops, with the addition of full IT support, to each attendee, enabling them to learn vital skills whilst also allowing them to produce professional CVs and complete job applications.
‘We anticipate that once the group has completed the programme, the attendees will be highly motivated, will have grown in confidence, and will have reached a willingness to move on to the next stage of considering their options and planning for the future. It is crucial that the support continues from this point and is readily available so that they are encouraged to engage with agencies who will provide the necessary direction to help them move along the right path to securing a positive destination. It’s been a very enjoyable and highly productive couple of days’ said Mark Halliday.
Positive feedback was also received from the participants:
‘I took a lot from the couple of days we completed especially the confidence it’s gave me to go for an interview and put myself across well enough, it was a really good experience and the guys at Sharkey were amazing’ said Raymond Hamilton.
‘I really enjoyed the course, I found getting an insight into the company from a local boy’s perspective was good. I thought the Belbin session was excellent for me but also to see how a team is structured. Improving my CV was very helpful and hope I can maybe get some work experience through the programme’ said Ricky Moore.
‘I thought the course was really cool I enjoyed the time with the guys, it was relaxed which was good it’s helped build my confidence to look for work easier now’ said Tom Hilson.
The Sharkey team were fully supported in this worthwhile endeavour by both The Royal Bank of Scotland and Street Soccer Scotland. We therefore, would like to thank Jamie Hogg (RBS Business Community Partner); John Paterson (RBS Retail LCO); Alan Finlayson (RBS Project Lead, Workplace Services, Shared Services); David Duke, (Street Soccer Scotland, Founder & CEO) and Andy Hook (Street Soccer Scotland, Development Manager – East).
‘The guys were delighted to be involved and all of them definitely gained something from attending, Tom thanked me after the session on Wednesday for having the chance to be there’
– Andy Hook, Development Manager (East), Street Soccer Scotland
