Since April 2022, we’ve supported four young people to successfully complete our Drivers Employability Training Scheme (DETS).
Developed from the post-pandemic review of our employability programmes, DETS, supported by Inspiring Scotland, supports vulnerable young people with an aspiration to drive for a living to become safe, competent, and qualified van drivers.
11 months later, and we’re very pleased to announce four young people have now gained their driving licenses! This means they’re qualified to operate our FareShare Glasgow and the West of Scotland vehicles. The goal is to provide vulnerable but aspiring young people the opportunity to significantly improve their employment prospects, giving them a skill which is vital in our post-pandemic world.
Read on to learn more about the course and two of the four young people’s employability journeys…
DETS is offered to young people who are currently engaged with Move On, either in a volunteering capacity or on one of our employability training courses. It offers them driving theory test training, driving instruction in cars, Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) certification, van instruction, driving hours, and RTIBT forklift instruction.
The programme also offers other skills such as time management, route management, and customer service training, which all help to make the young people more employable in the future.
As with all Move On employability training, all young people received intensive one to one support and assistance with literacy and numeracy. This really helped to support them through their theory tests.
Jordan: a quiet but extremely capable young person
Jordan had previously accessed different opportunities with Move On, including volunteering and a Community Jobs Scotland placement at our FareShare Glasgow and the West of Scotland warehouse. He expressed an interest to us in finding a job in warehousing and logistics, but felt his lack of practical experience, low self-confidence, and lack of driving license were real barriers to him achieving this goal. The DETS programme enabled Jordan to develop at a faster pace because we were able to allocate more one-to-one training time.
Jordan’s quiet and reserved demeanour didn’t disguise the fact that he had the ability to oversee and lead different areas within the depot and he was encouraged and supported to take on more responsibility. However the biggest positive factor for him was gaining his forklift license, which led to a visible change in his confidence, which in turn spurred him on to believe that he could pass his driving test.
Jordan passed his practical driving test on the first attempt which shows how much effort he had put in. He has now taken the next step and has already driven the FareShare vans.
Tiegan: an extremely driven young person determined to find employment
Before joining DETS, Tiegan had very little work experience which had been a real barrier to her securing employment. She’d attended several training courses since leaving school which helped to improve her soft skills, but not being able to secure employment had knocked her confidence. When Tiegan was accepted onto the DETS course we worked together to devise an action plan prioritising confidence building; identifying career opportunities; and achieving the hard outcomes of the training.
Over the last few months Tiegan has not only achieved her driving license, forklift license, and vocational qualifications, she’s focused on a career path in the warehouse and logistics sector. Throughout her time at the depot, her work ethic and willingness to learn have shone through. From leading teams of volunteers to training new starts, Tiegan has shown that she has the skills and now the experience to be successful in her chosen career path.
We have been exploring the next steps with Tiegan which include driving the FareShare vans to gain further experience, as well as looking at suitable progression opportunities. Tiegan has emphasised that she would love to work at FareShare and if an opportunity becomes available, she would be at the very top of any candidate list.
Four successful passes
Jordan and Tiegan join John and Zac as the four young people who have successfully passed our Drivers Employability Training Scheme so far. Congratulations to all four! Their hard work has really paid off and we will continue to support all four young people as they take the next steps on their employability journeys.