Farmers who are prepared to act as mentors to young trainees could enjoy funding in future if a proposal by Ringlink Scotland is backed by government.
The Laurencekirk-based co-operative, which has almost 3000 members and operates Scotland’s pre-apprenticeship pilot programme, has struggled to find enough mentors to meet demand from potential trainees and has called on the Scottish Government to support their plans.
Ringlink’s managing director, Graham Bruce told the co-op’s online annual meeting that he was optimistic government would support the continuation of the pre-apprenticeship scheme which is nearing the end of a successful three-year pilot.
He said: “There are quite a few of our members who don’t employ anyone but would be ideal mentors for youngsters, but their business can’t justify taking anyone on.
“If we get a bit of funding we feel it would open up more opportunities for youngsters on units that couldn’t otherwise justify them. We’re waiting for feedback.”
Simulator
Meanwhile, Ringlink’s training manager, Peter Wood, told the meeting the business was exploring the possibility of using simulators to deliver training in order to address the diverse nature of clients and the industries in which the business operates.
“They offer a dynamic training opportunity where the environment remains constant with little or no distraction, novice operators are provided with the confidence there is no chance of damage to machinery and the cost of operation is significantly less than a conventional machine. Its clearly environmentally friendly with an exceedingly low carbon footprint.
“Simulator training also combines well with our existing pre-apprenticeship model as we can offer introductory training to our future workforce.”