Putting the pieces back together

'I WAS pretty badly behaved at school, always messing about. But I've changed since I came here – I've grown up."

Andrew Gardner smiles as he talks about his hopes for the future. Sitting in his splashed overalls, the 17-year-old reveals his plans to secure a full-time job as a painter and decorator – a trade he has embraced since arriving six months ago at BLES Training, in Bathgate, a scheme for out-of-work youngsters.

Just two years earlier, the Howden teenager walked out of Inveralmond Community High School in favour of a fresh start, enrolling at West Lothian College on a course which gave him a grounding in office skills.

Unfortunately for him, it was not long before he realised he had made the wrong move.

"I much prefer what I am doing here – learning practical skills."

His boss, the training centre's general manager John Ewart, later bumps into him in the corridor.

"He's a good one – a good boy," he says firmly with a nod. The teenager smiles as his eyes dart to the floor in embarrassment.

John, 72, runs a tight ship at his training centre and polite manners, a good attitude, motivation and punctuality are some of his strongest qualities – and ones he expects in return from the young people on his watch.

Many of them have dropped out of school or fallen into the "wrong crowd". He describes others as "lost and a little disillusioned", but has no time to offer up excuses for slacking or rudeness.

"Everyone should have an attitude," he says. "But it should be a good one. Also, everyone deserves a second chance and if we do not give these people that, we fail as a society. Much of what we do here is simply about knocking the rough edges off."

Perhaps he makes it sound easier than it is. After all, many of the 50 trainees who pass through his door every year, signing up to 26-week courses in skills which could give them a chance to develop a career, do have many "rough edges".

He lists some of the issues behind them – homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse and problems in their home life – admitting that stamping out cannabis use among some trainees has been a challenge.

But he helped 68 per cent of them into jobs last year, and a further 73 per cent the year before, each receiving a weekly 55 allowance while at the centre, which is funded by Skills Development Scotland and West Lothian Council.

"Unfortunately though," he says. "I do think unemployment among younger people is worse than it was when the scheme started in the 1980s. And the work ethic is not always good.

"But we tackle any bad attitudes by stealth and show trainees that in a workplace they could get their P45, but here they get extra training to improve."

Three years ago, John's commitment to the centre earned him an MBE, a reflection of the work ethic he had instilled in him, growing up in a mining family in Armadale.

"I remember my father coming home from the pit every day exhausted. It was my job to clean the bath after he'd washed. I was one of nine children, so I had to work from an early age. I'd get up at 5am and deliver rolls for the local grocers' shop before I went to school."

At 16 he joined United Fireclay as an engineering apprentice and in 1955 was called up to the RAF, securing a job with the Hepworth's clothing chain in Bathgate on his return, and becoming manager of its Arbroath store aged only 21. From there, he went on to manage all Scottish operations, before embarking on his career with BLES Training.

When it opened, unemployment in West Lothian was at a staggering 25 per cent, following the closure of some of the area's biggest employers, including British Leyland.

At the end of the corridor, 18-year-old former trainee Paul Kelly is lurking in the doorway to the centre, sporting his new work uniform, having popped in after his shift at T&D Alarm Systems to tell his story.

Much of it has already become clear – his face heavily features on the walls of the centre, where he arrived aged only 15 from Deans Community High School and left in 2009 as its trainee of the year, going on to get a full-time job with the Bathgate security company.

John has already spoken at length about the Blackburn teenager's achievements too. "Look," he says, pointing at a photograph. "He arrived here a boy, but he left a man."

Paul sits down and smiles. "I was a little boy when I came here," he shakes his head. "I was just 15 and there were guys much older than me.

"Although I was well behaved at school, I just wanted out. It is my biggest regret now though, leaving when I did. I was just at that age when I thought I knew what I wanted."

It took Paul three courses at BLES Training before he got a full-time job, having successfully secured placements with local employers on many occasions, but none of them could afford to take on staff during the recession.

He knows how lucky he was to get his job, fitting alarm and security systems as well as CCTV.

"I would tell anyone reading this to stick in at school, even if you think you want to leave. Even if things do not work out, keep going. That is what I learned here from my supervisors – never to give up. We were always told just to stick in."

At the other end of the building, in a maze of workshops, trainees are hard at work. Some are mastering their decorating skills, others are making use of IT facilities while two teenage boys are developing their numeracy skills, using tape measures and design tasks to do so.

In the woodwork room, instructor Alan Jackson, 47, is helping a group of boys with their assignments – some are making tables, others bird feeders. Their creations adorn the building and many are sold in the community while other trainees offer their decorating skills to householders, particularly pensioners.

Alan knows only too well how hard it is to get a job these days having been made redundant last year from his post as a site manager in Falkirk with Taylor Woodrow.

He took on his job at BLES Training, partly owing to a long-standing niggling desire to teach, as well as an obvious need to support his family.

He says there is no turning back. "I get far more out of dealing with these guys and I feel very proud of them. They're being taught life skills," he says.

"I do worry for them, though. Things are very slow out there at the moment."

It is clear to see, with only 44 per cent of trainees so far having secured a job this financial year.

"This year is the toughest we have known," explains John. "We don't give up, though.

"Unemployment is not an option. I know not all our trainees will become apprentices, but there are lots of less-skilled jobs that still need to be done.

"The point is to give everyone a job where he or she will be happy and where they can earn a living."

WHAT IS BLES TRAINING?

BLACKBURN Local Employment Scheme (BLES) offers programmes for school leavers to prepare them for the world of work.

Training includes woodwork, painting and decorating, administration and general building and all takes place in special purpose units on the Whitehall Industrial Estate, in Bathgate.

BLES Training is a voluntary, charitable organisation which was formed in 1982 in Blackburn and has been managed by John Ewart MBE since its inception.

The ethos of the organisation is to create training and employment opportunities for young people, many of whom arrive at the centre with complex personal issues or a disillusionment with school.

Self-esteem is boosted through fitness classes and a focus on politeness, time-keeping and motivation, as well as effective communication skills.