Three colleges to share Highlands employment funding

THREE colleges are to share almost £1.95 million worth of funding to help tackle youth unemployment in the Highlands and Moray.

North Highland College, Inverness College UHI and Moray College will receive the European Social Fund grants for a range of different initiatives, including the creation of extra student places.

Minister for Youth Employment Angela Constance said: “Not having a place in work, education or training can be highly damaging to the life chances of Scotland’s young people and can seriously dent their ambitions.

“There are considerable challenges involved in addressing the problem and we are determined to tackle this head on across the whole of government, working closely with all those who have an interest – from business leaders to young people themselves.”

John Spencer, principal of Inverness College UHI, added: “We are extremely pleased to welcome the money from the European Social Fund, which will make an important contribution to creating opportunities for young people in the area.”

More than £500,000 of the funding will be used to offer additional engineering places for young people as part of the Highland Energy Collaboration.