canal college & Green Action canal heritage projects - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

canal college & Green Action ‘canal heritage projects facilitating learning’ Karen Moore, Scottish Waterways Trust

Scottish Waterways Trust – Who we are Vision Scottish Waterways Trust creates brighter futures for people and places across our canals Mission: We achieve this by c onnecting people with the heritage, wildlife and green, open spaces of our canals, changing lives, enhancing the environment and inspiring communities across Scotland

Scottish Waterways Trust – 5 Strategic Aims  Communities & Regeneration  Environment & Heritage  Learning & Skills  Health  Volunteering

Green Action Project Canal skills employment & Training Programme aimed at 16-25 year old Young people in Falkirk & North Lanarkshire  Began as a pilot in 2010  Young people volunteer 1 day per week -12 week training programmes  Worked with 271 young people  25% employment success  92% positive destination success

PROJECT FOCUS - EMPLOYABILITY  Provide real work-like practical tasks  Maintain a workplace regime – discipline, standards of behaviour, language, quality of work and instil a sense of ‘time and place’, boundaries  Supervisors – supportive, motivating and encouraging, not bossy  Assign tasks and targets within capabilities but always with a view to stretching them, easing them out of their comfort zone  Praising not patronising – explain and/or demonstrate quality of work expected, praising good work, asking to fix if unacceptable  Explain the wider benefits of their work e.g. visitors to Wheel who will benefit from the benches they build or flowers they plant  Teamwork – encourage cooperative teamwork  Encourage tolerance and understanding of others abilities/limitations

Group Profile - Falkirk 60% of group – • Complex learning needs • Behavioural problems • Mental health issues • Physical disabilities – e.g. ADHD, speech problems, dispraxia • Autism – encompassing all of above

Group Profile - NLAN  All volunteers have specific barriers to overcome before they are ready to enter the work-place  The majority failed to achieve their academic potential due to issues with poor attendance and/or behavioural problems  Lifestyle choices – many abusing alcohol or other substances such as cannabis. This has resulted in an unstable home environment and many are often in trouble with their families or the police  A small percentage have learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia & other literacy/numeracy issues

Cost of Being a NEET young person A study by Department of Education & Skills in 2002 The additional resource cost associated with being NEET is £45,000 The DfES report also sought to examine the additional cost to government of a NEET. This was estimated as £52,000

Green Action – Savings to the Economy  271 young people in total  66 young people are now in Employment thanks to Green Action  £97k per young person saved  £6,072,000 saved  Cost of Green Action - £351k Cost per young person for a Green Action programme £1,295 vs £97k if remain NEET

Green Action Positive Destinations Work + Work Placements + Further Education + Other Volunteering + NCFE Accredited Units + CSCS Industry Qualification

Measuring Positive Destinations – Soft Skills Personal Interpersonal Self- Initiative & Management Delivery Confidence Social/ Self-control Planning interpersonal skills Self-esteem Communication Reliability Problem solving skills Motivation Teamwork Positive attitude Prioritising Self-efficacy Assertiveness Presentation

Completed Tasks Created 2 ‘ stumperies ’ in Falkirk Wheel visitor centre garden.

Completed Tasks Cleared vegetation and footpath along approx 100m of security fenceling at Falkirk Wheel nature trail.

Completed Tasks Planted 2,000 bluebell bulbs and 1,000 snakehead fritillaries in the Falkirk Wheel nature trail.

Completed Tasks Sanded and oiled 11 Falkirk Wheel picnic benches.

Completed Tasks Installed a drain on footpath to Croy.

Completed Tasks Painted 64m of canal barriers & gates by the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Completed Tasks Fitted approx. 280m of wooden edging around 12 large flower beds. (90% of wood has been stained).

Completed Tasks Pruned approx. 100m of willow fedge and dells.

Volunteer Mentors

canal college Vision ‘To use the canal environment to inspire young people to learn and engage local communities to enhance our heritage legacy and improve life chances’

What is canal college? ‘canal heritage projects facilitating learning’  An innovative and inspirational programme of learning, skills development and employability training  Based on Scotland’s lowland canals in Edinburgh and Falkirk  Designed for young people not in employment, education or training  Focussed on cultural, built and natural heritage skills  Intergenerational working and sharing  Built on the success of Green Action

canal college Objectives  To increase participation, learning and accreditation opportunities in the built, natural and cultural heritage sectors for young people  To provide outdoor learning which is hands-on and direct  To improve the skills, confidence and employability of programme participants.  To mentor participants and support them in their search for employment and/or further education and volunteering opportunities  To increase the opportunity for volunteers, canalside communities and other canal users to participate in canal college  To support and add value to the on-going heritage works and records associated with the canals  To increase the number of visitors to the canals and to improve health and well being of visitors and participants

Some facts & figures Element Outputs TOTALS May 2013 – April 2015 Timespan 2 Years Number of locations Edinburgh & Falkirk 2 locations Number of Six in each area 12 programmes Programmes Duration of each Fourteen weeks x 2 days per week 336 days programme Participants per 12 participants 144 participants programme Volunteers per 2 minimum 24 volunteers programme Awards available per 1 completion certificate, 3 awards Up to 200 awards participant (John Muir, Saltire and Youth Achievement) & possible SVQs

Partnerships & Funding PROJECT PARTNERS  Scottish Waterways Trust working in partnership with Scottish Canals PROJECT BUDGET  £440,000 FUNDING PARTNERS  Heritage Lottery Fund – £205k request Stage 2  The European Union Interreg IVB North West Europe - £186k awarded  Scottish Natural Heritage – £34k  Scottish Canals - £15k

canal college Programmes The Modules:  Induction & How Canals Work  Built Heritage  Natural Heritage  Cultural Heritage  Signature Projects  The Historic Flight of Locks, Falkirk  Calders Canal Gateway, Edinburgh  Celebrating Canal College Participants

‘How Canals Work’ Module The Module:  Engineering – gravity and contour canals; how canals came into being; managing heritage infrastructure  Operations – canal staff duties, how locks work, how water is managed  The Falkirk Wheel – why its there and how it works The Benefit:  Better appreciation of the heritage significance of the canals  An insight into jobs on the canals

Built Heritage Modules The Module:  Culvert & bankside walling surveys  Stonework demo and taster sessions  Culvert management  Bankside structures The Benefit:  At least 12 culvert mouths cleared and restored  12 canalside structures restored  Minimum of 24 accurate survey records added to the Scottish Canals data base

Natural Heritage Modules The Module: • Protected & invasive species surveys • Habitat enhancements • Plant identification • Wildflower meadow creation • Top 10 wildlife and plants to spot The Benefit:  6 protected species surveyed  12 invasive species surveys done  72 bat boxes installed  2 wildflower meadows created  2 ‘Top 10’ guides created

Cultural Heritage Modules The Module:  Cultural Heritage investigation & research  Living Memory Oral History interviews  Archiving & Cataloguing The Benefit:  2 heritage boxes produced for educational purposes  12 new heritage trails created  12 oral history records compiled  Library archiving and cataloguing

Signature Project Falkirk The Module:  Review of historic records/archive  Vegetation clearance, shallow excavation, site records, condition survey, stonework repairs, soiling and seeding The Benefit:  Shallow excavation of top 3 historic locks  Heritage trail from Falkirk Wheel  Interpretation & final exhibition

Signature Project Calders The Module:  Landscape skills in sett laying, stone wall restoration, gate construction, heritage seating installation, native hedge planting, native woodland and tree planting, soiling and seeding, interpretation and information signage The Benefit:  Formation of a formal gateway linking Calders to the Union Canal

The Future