Leisure graduates learn a thing or two

Young people are celebrating after graduating from a management trainee programme which was created by North Lanarkshire Leisure (NLL).

The group of graduates got a real insight into the workings for the leisure industry during the 13 weeks course.

They are Rory Brechin, of Inverclyde; Kenny MacDermid of Motherwell; Gillian Sefton, of Airdrie; Gordon Archibald, of Larkhall; Robert Robertson, of Glasgow; Mark Whiteside of Cumbernauld; Paul Smith. of Motherwell; Alan Peat of Coatbridge and Andrew Waugh of Coatbridge.

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The course focused on a wide range of the industry and all the graduates successfully gained the Royal Life Saving Society’s’ Pool Lifeguard Award.

Other areas covered included first aid, finance, health and safety, customer care, sales and marketing, food hygiene, managing people and swimming pool plant operations.

The graduates also took part in placements in a number of NLL venues to gain a broad experience of the tasks, duties and skills required to deliver excellent customer services.

Councillor Jim Logue, chairman of NLL, said: “We recognised the need to provide talented young people with both the practical and hands on training and skills development opportunities, merged with academic training to help them prepare for a future career in sports and leisure management.”

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In December last year, NLL’s board agreed that the company should develop a tailored management training programme to provide opportunities for young people, currently employed by NLL and those who are unemployed to gain skills and experience which would enable them to develop career opportunities within NLL and the wider leisure industry.

Bosses hope the management programme will become the first phase in the development of a dedicated Training Academy within NLL.

Blane Dodds, chief executive of NLL, added: “It is crucial that we harness existing talent within the company while at the same time providing opportunities for employees to develop skills and gain valuable experience.

“The training and development of these and future graduates will deliver a platform for career progression throughout company, which will also help to develop the organisation in the future”.

NLL have worked with several external partners to provide successful work experience programmes to provide much needed opportunities for young people to train for a career in the leisure industry.