TRAINING GROUP IN BID FOR LOTTERY BOOST
THE body set up to provide quality training opportunities in the Uists is hoping to get National Lottery funding for a new training project.
Cothrom Ltd are at present preparing a project which they will be submitting to the Lotteries Charities Board by April 3.
Said Morag Ferguson, project manager of Cothrom, "We are a voluntary body and only get European funding. This funding is matched by Western Isles Enterprise who have been very supportive, and latterly we have had funding from Lews Castle College. The whole funding side has to be addressed."
Cothrom came into being in 1992 following substantial efforts on the part of of some local women who found it was difficult to obtain new skills or upgrade the skills they had, due to the lack of an accessible college or training facility.
The organisation's three-year development plan points out that the economic base of the Uists is fragile.
"The principal economic activities are construction, tourism, fishing, fish-farming, crofting, public service sector (in particular MOD and the local Council) and more recently tele-working," it states. "Like many rural and island communities, the Uists are heavily reliant on public sector spending. The current financial constraints on all public spending are having a significant effect on employment prospects with redundancies and a freeze on recruitment by many employers. The difficulty in finding new employment opportunities is compounded by the exceptionally low turnover in the employment market," says the plan.
It points out that further education opportunities are limited to distance learning and some of the training that Cothrom provides, and states that Government training schemes are available but do not meet everyone's requirements.
Since established, Cothrom has provided training in tailoring, childcare and education, Harris Tweed weaving, administration, computer applications and book-keeping.
"Apart from 1992/93, only two training programmes have been run annually due to lack of funding, restrictive premises and a limited market in terms of trainee numbers," they say. "During 1996, Cothrom ran two training programmes, one in computer technology and one in administration and financial skills." Both had been successful.
Regarding the future, they state:-"Cothrom's long term development plans will undoubtedly be affected to a great degree by the outcome of the Further Education in the Uists project and future funding prospects, given the demise of Objective One funding in 1999," they say.
Cothrom hope to get a better range of provision of Training and Adult Education for the people of Uist by taking an active role in the Further Education in the Uists development project.
They also hope to develop better links with employers and possibly provide day release training courses for employees of small companies who require formal training but do not at present have the opportunity to obtain that.
Cothrom are keen to sell training in computer applications to national and local employers and generate some income through doing this.
One of the threats is the reduction in trainee numbers and therefore viability if a Further Education Centre is established at Lionacleit.
There is also the threat of loss of funding if current funds are diverted to supporting the proposed new FE Centre at Lionacleit, bearing in mind the limited budget of Western Isles Enterprise.
The two new directors of Cothrom Ltd are Alan Graham of Orasay Inn and Mary MacNeil, project development officer for Uist 2000.
Said Mr Graham, "Cothrom constantly have to look at what they are offering the community and try and meet any demand there is for training. It has been successful in the past and it is important for the community that it keeps going."
He went on, "It does provide a good service - I benefited myself from it last year."
Mr Graham said he was convinced it was a worthwhile organisation and hoped it would continue to provide such a good service in the future.
He continued, "It is a constant challenge to get funding, but they seem to manage to do that every year and I hope that will continue."
Mr Gordon Wells, development officer for Further Education in the Uist and Barra, said that Cothrom had recently joined their steering group and he was pleased that this was the case.
"Cothrom is an excellent community group," said Mr Wells. "They have a successful track record in developing programmes for training which answers the needs of the local community."
Original article Stornoway Gazette Mar 29 1997.
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