Helping Renfrewshire Grow & Prosper
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Renfrewshire Council Updates:
Paisley sends of its UK City of Culture 2021 bid in style Paisley’s second-stage UK City of Culture 2021 bid has been submitted to the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Crowds gathered at the Paisley Cenotaph as local choirs and school children waved the bid off on Friday 29 September. A large crowd joined more than 150 singers from eight local choirs to mark the bid submission at Paisley Cross with a moving rendition of Wild Mountain Thyme, led by local singing star Carol Laula. Set against the song’s refrain of ‘will ye go lassie go’ – the performance saw the bid ceremonially handed through generations of females including Renfrewshire’s Deputy Provost Cathy McEwan, Paisley resident and former Moderator of the Church of Scotland Lorna Hood, and University of West of
Scotland Masters student and singer Sheyi Aina. The Renfrewshire town is the only Scottish place to make the final shortlist – alongside Coventry, Stoke, Sunderland and Swansea – with the winner to be announced in December. The bid is part of a wider drive to transform Paisley’s future using its internationally-significant heritage and cultural story. A winning bid would boost the local economy by £175m and create 4,700 jobs over the next decade. Chair of the Paisley 2021 partnership board Councillor Iain Nicolson said: “Paisley is a town which needs a boost – and there is nothing which could do more to deliver that than becoming UK City of Culture 2021. “That difference will be felt beyond Renfrewshire – we are very much
Scotland’s bid, and with huge numbers of visitors expected in 2021 if we win, the benefits will be felt throughout the country.” The send-off follows a massive £45.7million town centre investment package approved by Renfrewshire Council which will prepare the town to host the 2021 title. That includes a £22m modernisation of Paisley’s iconic 19th-century town hall, £10m of public realm and transport improvements in Paisley town centre, a £2.5m upgrade to Paisley Arts Centre, and £3.5m to turn the disused Galbraiths warehouse in Back Sneddon Street into a new multi-purpose arts space.
School leaver job prospects boosted by employability partnership programme Improving the employment prospects for young people is one of Renfrewshire Council’s top priorities. Council Leader Iain Nicolson recently headed to West College Scotland to hear first-hand from Renfrewshire secondary school pupils about one specially tailored project doing just that. The ground breaking venture – part of the Council’s Joint Employability Programme – sees pupils selected from Renfrewshire’s secondary and additional support needs schools attend vocational taster sessions at the College. More than 170 pupils have taken part so far, including Trinity High School pupil Ellie Gallagher. She said: “I have definitely benefited from coming to the college. We have tried out different subjects like Home Economics, Special Effects MakeUp, Mechanics and other things we don’t do at school.” Fellow Trinity pupil Daniel O’Rourke added: “It has been good to see what being on a college course is like and the experience has made me think about my
future a lot more.” It is one of five initiatives aimed at improving the career prospects for young people which have shared in a further £75,500 investment from the Council. Phase one of the School pupils Ellie Gallacher, Lindsay Don, Daniel O’Rourke, Devlin Morton, Thomas Coburn Joint Employability and Naomi Gardner take a break from studying with Renfrewshire Council Leader Iain Nicolson. Project reached more unemployment falling. than 1500 pupils Councillor Nicolson said: “There have and almost 400 parents, with a range of been great strides made towards youth projects tailored for targeted groups. employment in Renfrewshire and The projects benefit from Home Link supporting the next generation into Employability Assistants to support employment will be instrumental in the pupils and their families, engaging more area’s future success. than 140 young people who would have “We will continue to target resources to otherwise left school without a positive make the greatest difference, working destination. closely with our partners in education, Working with partners, Renfrewshire in business and in the voluntary sector has taken youth employment from 27th to close the attainment gap and broaden in Scotland to being the fourth best, with young people’s horizons.” job totals now at pre-recession levels and