Jacqueline Smith, from Douglas, has gained qualifications and a new job through the Connect2Renewables initiative, which is funded from a proportion of the community benefit funds from Middle Muir Windfarm, Crawfordjohn, and Kype Muir Windfarm, Strathaven, both of which are operated by Banks Renewables.

The partnership between South Lanarkshire Council and Banks Renewables aims to assist people living within 10km of either windfarm into employment by providing employability advice and support, training in new skills and help with travel to work, training or childcare.

Jacqueline was one of the first people the initiative was able to support. She had a proven record of looking after young people and had been working on a part-time basis at an afterschool care facility in Hamilton, but had hit a stumbling block when looking to progress in her career.

She said: “I needed qualifications to back up the skills I had, but lacked confidence in trying for them because I’m dyslexic.

“However, I was put in touch with Wilma Weir, who works with Connect2Renewables and she was brilliant in working with me to help me to the next stage.

“She regularly met up with me close to where I lived and also referred me to the council’s Upskilling Team, who provided in-work training through South Lanarkshire College… and I passed my course in June 2022, finally achieving the qualification I had been dreaming of for so long.”

In the meantime, however, the impact of COVID-19 had forced to the afterschool care facility where Jacqueline had worked to close for a period, and she did not fully return to her post there.

Wilma, who works as a Vocational Development Officer with Connect2Renewables, said: “It was an opportunity for Jacqueline to search for a new job that might be closer to home and involving less travel, so I was able to help her with applications and offer advice.

“I was delighted that she achieved this just a few months later when she secured a job with the council as a hallkeeper in Douglas itself. It was right on her doorstep and I was so pleased that she found something so right for her in every way.”

Councillor Robert Brown, Chair of Community and Enterprise Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Jacqueline’s achievements are a perfect example of what Connect2Renewables aims to bring to the local communities around the windfarms.

“The support for local people is one-to-one and tailored exactly for what they need to help improve their employability. And if it results in local jobs going to local people, it is even more or a benefit to all.”

The two windfarms operated in South Lanarkshire by Banks Renewables have so far awarded more than a quarter of a million pounds into local community projects through the Renewable Energy Fund. With fifteen turbines operating, Middle Muir windfarm alone guarantees the local community up to £6.37million worth of funding over the lifetime of the project.

Jacqueline may consider returning to working in afterschool care at some point in the future, but in the meantime she has the ideal job for the stage her life is at now.

She said: “I am really enjoying my job, and it is brilliant, and so helpful, to be working in my own local community.

“I’m so grateful for the support I’ve had from Connect2Renewables – apart from the advice and training, it was so helpful just to have someone to talk to and who could discuss different ideas with me. I couldn’t have done it any other way.”

As well as helping those who wish to improve their employment situation by offering full time and part time jobs or work experience places, Connect2 Renewables can also benefit those who could employ them.

Recruits from the local area can be supported with training, protective clothing or even assist with travel if required and, as well as up to £6000 of financial support being available to businesses to help them employ local people, advice and support is also available to employers as part of the process. Further information is available for anyone interested in the support offered by the initiative from the council website.