The Conservation Volunteers is delighted to announce new funding to regenerate and conserve the Kinneil Estate and promote employment in the local community.
We are embarking on an exciting new programme providing training and work experience to local unemployed people in the Bo’ness area of Falkirk. The Kinneil Coastal Rangers Project aims to regenerate Kinneil Estate to increase tourism and economic investment in the area through the implementation of the Kinneil Masterplan.
The Masterplan for Kinneil Estate has been produced by Falkirk Community Trust in consultation with stakeholders and is available online. It provides a framework to conserve, enhance and develop the estate to benefit the local community.
Funded by the Scottish Government through the Coastal Communities Fund, The Conservation Volunteers will work in partnership with Falkirk Community Trust and Falkirk Council Employment Training Unit to deliver the Kinneil Coastal Rangers Project.
The project will involve a two-year training and work experience programme based in Kinneil Estate. The Conservation Volunteers will recruit eight unemployed people from the local area, with the support of Falkirk Council’s Employment Training Unit, and train them, for the initial six months, in SQA accredited employment skills through practical outdoor work. For the following 18 months the trainees will be employed by The Conservation Volunteers as Trainee Rangers on a Modern Apprenticeship.
Provost Tom Coleman, portfolio holder for Economic Development in welcoming the news said, “this initiative is another excellent example of our work with partners, to help create new and diverse opportunities for young people to gain new skills and experience to help them in their journey towards sustainable employment.”
During their apprenticeship the trainees will be involved in upgrading key tourist routes throughout the estate including the John Muir Way and National Cycle Route 76. The Rangers will also support the work of community groups including Friends of Kinneil, the White Lady Mountain Biking Group, the Antonine Wall group and the Orchard group to name a few.
…our training programmes provide trainees with excellent learning and skill development opportunities.
Debbie Adams, Director, TCV in Scotland
In order to improve their employment prospects in the future, the Rangers will gain a range of conservation, heritage and tourism skills through practical conservation work, as well as providing support to local events such as the Bo’ness Hill Climb and Big Roman Week. In the local community the Rangers will benefit from short placements with local tourist attractions such as the Kinneil Railway and the Bo’ness Hippodrome.
Towards the end of the Kinneil Coastal Ranger Project the Rangers will be introduced to future local employers through showcase events, our eBulletin (subscribe online at tcv.org.uk), social media and external links with key partners and employers.
Claire Mennim, Team Leader at Falkirk Community Trust said “Falkirk Community Trust are delighted that TCV have secured funding from the Scottish Government to run the Coastal Communities project at Kinneil Estate. The site is a much loved local resource and the improvements the program will be able to achieve, both physically to the park, and also in terms of involving new people in conservation and social action will help drive forward the Masterplan for Kinneil Estate developed in partnership with stakeholder groups in 2015.”
Debbie Adams, Director of TCV in Scotland, said “We are so pleased to have been awarded this funding from Coastal Communities as we know our training programmes provide trainees with excellent learning and skill development opportunities as well as a recognised SQA qualification, making them more valuable in the workplace. This coupled with our desire to improve much-loved green spaces, such as the Kinneil Estate, is why this programme is so valuable.”
