Free courses on offer in Fort William

A series of free courses that are being offered to help unemployed people living in the Plantation area of Fort William brush up on their skills.

Certificated courses in first aid, book keeping, computing, customer care and food hygiene will be on offer as well as workshops focussing on developing confidence and inter-personal skills.

The courses are being funded by The Highland Council through its Deprived Area Fund and will be delivered locally by The Shirley Project, Lochaber Hope, Lochaber Business Development Services and Lifestyles.

Chairman of Planning, Environment and Development, Councillor Ian Ross said:  “By working in partnership with the local agencies we are able to offer a very practical way of supporting unemployed people and helping improve their work prospects. People can come along to brush up on skills they already have as well as taking this chance to learn new ones. The variety of courses and workshops on offer means a lot of topics and interests are covered and people coming along can pick and mix as many of the sessions as they like.”

The courses will be held at three different venues – the Plantation Hall, the West Highland College (UHI) on Carmichael Way, Fort William and at An Drochaid, Claggan.  The first course, Taking Control Confidently, begins on Monday 7 March and the series will end with a certified course entitled CookSafe for Caterers on Monday 11th April.

The full programme of courses is as follows:

7th March   Taking Control Confidently
10th & 17th March   Elementary Food Hygiene
14th March   Effective Communications
17th March   An introduction to computing
21st March   Assertiveness
24th March   Basic Book keeping
28th & 29th March   Developing Emotional Strength
31st March   Basic First Aid
4th & 5th April   Developing Positive Identity
7th April   Customer Care
11th April   CookSafe for Caterers                

All the courses and workshops are free of charge but must be booked in advance.  A light lunch, tea and coffee will be provided.   For further information and to book a place please contact Jane on 07825533888 or   Jessie on 01397 874402