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Jamie Paterson from Govan has begun to turn his life around thanks to the Foundation’s Govan Thriving Place Ready for Employment Programme, a new project designed to help local young people whose job prospects have been affected by the pandemic.

The 23 year old heard of the course through Universal Credit and the Rangers connection was a huge draw for him to sign up.

“As a Rangers fan the course attracted me and I’d seen the work the Charity Foundation has done before, so I signed up as I was just sitting in the house doing nothing, doing some job searches and getting nowhere,” he explained.

Jamie attended the 3-week full-time course at Ibrox and gained SQA, First Aid and Mental Health First Aid qualifications as well as help with his CV, interview techniques and job searching. The course also included employability workshops with various partners focusing on post course positive destinations such as employment, volunteering and further education.

“The course gave me the knowledge to apply for jobs and helped me build my CV. It also helped my confidence and I got to meet new contacts about jobs.”

“It really helped by showing me ways I could achieve my goals and it gave me time to work on my professionalism.”

Since completing the course, Jamie has landed two seasonal jobs which has given him valuable experience for his CV, and has now landed a full time job.

“Getting that first job reignited my job confidence and gave me new skills to bring to my next job. I really enjoyed it, it kept me busy and other team members were really friendly.”

“My advice for unemployed people sitting at home would be to seek out help from courses such as the Rangers Charity Foundation one. By the end you will have new contacts, more chances for employment and also potential new friends.

“The course is a good laugh and all the folks there are very friendly and have good patter! I would say to be yourself, be as honest with the staff as you can and most importantly enjoy it.”