A young Lanarkshire worker has earned a top national award and a permanent post after an impressive first year in the workplace.
Rhys Dingwall was named “young person of the year” at the Centre for Engineering, Education and Development awards, where he was recognised for his work as a trainee at Volvo in Motherwell.
The 19-year-old Coatbridge resident first took up the placement last summer through the No Limits supported employment scheme run by North Lanarkshire Council – and has now crowned his industry success by being offered a permanent role with the company.
Rhys attended the awards ceremony alongside his colleagues, and said: “I was shocked when I was told I was nominated for the award and when my name was mentioned I was so surprised.
“I was so nervous and excited at the same time; I had a great time from start to finish, and everyone was so proud of me.
“My time at Volvo has been great and I’m enjoying every minute – I get on great with everyone.”
No Limits is designed for young people with additional support needs, with each trainee learning workplace skills in a paid role and receiving support from a job coach.
Volvo has now offered Rhys the opportunity of a permanent role “due to his fantastic work ethic and amazing progress since starting as a No Limits trainee”.
Rhys’ mum Jennifer said: “He’s come a long way since leaving school and starting his work placement with his confidence growing; we’re so proud of him and think he will have a great future with Volvo.
“None of this would have been possible without the council’s No Limits work programme and its dedicated team, and the amazing companies like Volvo for creating opportunities for hard-working young people.”
Supported enterprise manager Donella Duff said: “It was clear Rhys had a real interest in mechanics and cars so our employment co-ordinator arranged a job taster with Volvo, who were keen to support his journey, and after a very positive experience he began a work placement.
“We worked with him before he left high school to find a work placement that suited his skills and interests as one of the key aspects of our service is matching the right person to the right job.
“It’s always so pleasing to see our young people succeed in employment – it’s a real team effort and it’s thanks to the local businesses that support our service, the expertise of our employment co-ordinator and job coaches and the hard work and skills of our young people.”
Karen Anne Duffy of Volvo added: “We initially partnered with North Lanarkshire’s supported employment scheme five years ago, and were keen to get involved with the No Limits Programme as well.
“The fact that Rhys won this award reinforces our belief that there truly are no limits to what we are capable of, and we would encourage more organisations to partner with the council and give people a chance at employment.”
Local firms interested in joining the scheme can email Gail McKee on mckeeg@northlan.gov.uk to find out more about supporting young people across North Lanarkshire.
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