News
Young people invest in a programme they can bank on
Tigers, along with Royal Bank of Scotland and We Are Futures have been delighted to deliver the CareerSense Find Your Path employability programme
Celebration, cake and connection at tigers
In partnership with RBS and We Are Futures, tigers have been delighted to deliver CareerSense Find Your Path to a group of young people, offering them skills workshops, one-to-one mentoring support from a bank colleague and a paid four-week work experience placement at the bank.
On Monday, April 11th, we were excited to welcome some of our young people into tigers HQ, along with their mentors from NatWest. The morning began with a mentoring session, with the group reflecting on their time on the course, and also their work experience placement.
In the afternoon, we welcomed a selection of guests from the bank, We Are Futures and tigers, with the young people delivering presentations, but not before a spot of lunch!
“What I really learnt – tigers and NatWest are GREAT people!”
Amy Taylor, learner
Coming up one-by-one after lunch to deliver the presentations, the young people demonstrated the development of their curiosity, bravery, confidence and resilience over the past few months. Each had something different to share about their time on the course and their work placement, along with the skills they had learnt, the challenges they had faced, and how they overcame them.
Finishing off with certificates, photographs and a slice of cake, it was a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the hard work our young people had put in over the last few months. Whilst we were sad to see them go for the final time, we remain excited for their future career prospects,
What’s next for CareerSense Find Your Path? We’ll be excited to share some information with you about how we’ll be able to help another group of young people explore the world of employment very soon!
We have become the proud sponsors of an Elephant Pump in Africa
Here, at tigers, we are aware that keeping our team hydrated will aid them to perform at their very best throughout the work day.
As a result, we decided to invest in watercoolers from AquAid.
Our unique relationship with AquAid has also given our company the opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves, because with each purchase an automatic donation is made to TheAfrica Trust.
These funds have been used to build ‘Elephant Pumps’ – a modified version of an age old Chinese rope pulley system. This pump has been installed in Africa on our behalf and it will be a much needed source of clean and fresh drinking water for many.
Tigers’ name is proudly displayed on our well and we’re delighted to have been able to support AuAid in installing this well.
To date AquAid have built over 8,000 such Elephant Pumps across parts of Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe; and have donated in excess of £18 million to charity.
Lullaby Lane supports building the future workforce of ELC
About Lullaby Lane Nurseries
Lullaby Lane has been operating since 2013, we are an attachment led nursery meeting the emotional needs of our children. We have two nurseries who are providing childcare for children 0-5 years old. We are currently working with around 150 families across Bearsden and Milngavie area. Currently we have 41 people employed with us and we are continuing to recruit to provide further opportunities for our team. We are a nursery that prioritise starting with the adults in the lives of our children as, the team must feel valued for them to provide emotional care for our children and families.
Our Commitment to Apprenticeships
At Lullaby Lane 15 of the 41 team are currently apprentices who are undertaking their SVQ level 3 or 4 in children and young people, we believe that Modern Apprenticeships provide people with the skills as well as the knowledge. All our apprentices undertake additional training opportunities that builds their confidence. Due to the nursery being attachment led the team all undertake training with Dr Suzanne Zeedyk that supports them to understand brain development and why the first 3 years in a child’s life is the most formative time the brain grows.
We are working with Tigers Early Years to create an MA model that allows them to take time out their working week to complete their qualification. We believe that Early Years is one of the most important jobs and the team must feel valued. Tigers supports us by allowing the assessor to come into the nursery and do observations to support the apprentices to be guided to how they work with the children.
“I trained with Tigers in SVQ Social Services (Children & Young People) and the best thing I’ve taken away has been learning how our bodies and brain works and focusing on secure attachment and play. My training led to a job in Early Years working at Lullaby Lane, undertaking the Modern Apprenticeship programme gave me the knowledge and skills to take this into the nursery.”
Chris Keane, Depute Manager, Lullaby Lane Nurseries
We believe that Modern Aprrenticeships are a valuable qualification that helps people to gain skills and knowledge in the career they have a passion for.
Young People Have The Answers To Our Future
Tigers host Glasgow Hackathon!
We were excited and privileged to partner with The Hope Collective, UK Youth, Youth Link Scotland and the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit in hosting a Hackathon in Glasgow. The event one of a series five regional Hacks” brought together a diverse group of around 60 young people from across Scotland to discuss tough societal challenges including housing, environment and employment.
The Campaign
The Hope Collective campaign honours the memory of Damilola Taylor, a young man who, aged 10, tragically lost his life to violence in London in 2000. Shortly before his death, Damilola wrote of his hope to change the world. This series of events attempt to honour that dream by inviting young people to lead us in #ChangingTheConversation. The event dedicates the campaign to young people and their aspirational stories of ambition and hope.
We believe young people have the infinite potential to challenge the future and create a better society. This was a great event to be involved in and brought power to young people voices.
Hackathon Day
Our agenda was busy, and the excitement on the room was tangible. We started right on track with our inspirational speaker, Graeme Armstrong, author of the award-winning Scots Book of the year 2021 “The young Team”. Graeme set the tone for the day, sharing his story of hope and honesty which has led him to where he is today and to writing his bestselling book. It was a true message of hope.
After our keynote speaker, we move to our discussions with our panellists: Cain Green, Denisha Killoh, Imogen Maskell and John Loughton, where they discussed our themes of: environment, housing & employment. It was a grounded debated touching subject from inclusion & LGBTQ+, disability in sustainability, societal status and environment.
“'Our communities have been living sustainably for years, the environment is a middle-class conversation. We need to keep raising our voice, understand the system to get ahead.”
John Loughton
Hearing Young People’s Ideas!
Our young people moved to their workshops with their facilitators to work on their ideas on how they want to create change. As we brought the day to a close, our young people shared their hopes for the future with the listeners: Niven Rennie, Paul Sweeney MSP and Gary Trowsdale. This is what they had to say:
Group 1: A rap feedbacking their thoughts on Housing and equality. Housing should be affordable and accessible.
Group 2: A metaphor of knocking down the cups to explain the issues they see in our current class system and how they want to see society change to give everyone a voice.
Group 3: Focusing on environmentally friendly housing with space to grow our own food.
Group 4: Housing in locations that accommodate the environment. Sustainable housing that doesn’t take away from the environment but instead works around it.
Group 5: Those working in housing need to be trauma informed.
Group 6: The education system has failed. Young people should be doing projects and writing essays on current social issues.
groups 7/8: The motto to follow: Our future. Our voice. Our world.
Lastly, we had Molly from Manchester, singing her own song, Syndicate.
Thank you to all our young people, partners & The Hope Collective, for an aspirational day. Hope is the start of change. Let’s keep changing the conversation!
If you are looking to empower young people, and support their development, get in touch to start a partnership!
The winners at tigers second annual golf day
We recently hosted our second annual golf day
It was a day enjoyed by all as we welcomed friends and partners of tigers back to Douglas Park Golf Club in September. We hosted our first golf day in 2019 but due to the Covid-19 pandemic we had to postpone the 2020 event.
Having been two years since we took to the course it was great to see everyone’s swing was looking as good as we remembered and were able to enjoy themselves on the way round the immaculate course.
Helping Hackathon
To support this cause, we hosted a nearest the pin challenge, asking £5 entry with the winner splitting the £200 pot with the Hackathon.
The Winners
After a competitive day on the course, our guests enjoyed a lovely meal as the scores of the days stableford competition were calculated. We were delighted to be able to hand out prizes to the days winners… and losers.
- Nearest the pin (3rd hole) – Jim Morrison (TTag)
- Nearest the pin (17th hole) – George Morrison (TTag)
- Longest drive (10th hole) – Donald Turner (Veitchi)
- Most special golfer – George Morrison (TTag)
- 3rd place – Donald Turner (Veitchi)
- 2nd place – Chris Kennedy (Cosy Installs)
- 1st place – Ian McLaughlin (Veitchi)
Thank you to all our partners who joined us, and we look forward to welcoming you back again for our third annual golf day in 2022
Supporting people to develop their infinite potential
Tigers group are now offering support to our team, partners, children and young people through calming tigers and authentic tigers
Here at tigers, we’re passionate about supporting people to develop their infinite potential. We care deeply about creating an environment that allows every individual to bring their authentic self into the workplace.
We are excited to launch two new brands, calming tigers & authentic tigers, both of which will be crucial to making this vision a reality. Both brands will allow us to support not only our team, but also children, young people, schools and partners with wellbeing and life coaching programmes.
Emotional Health Self Awareness – calming tigers
Raising self-awareness of how we carry stress and anxiety, calming tigers supports adults and children to move towards calmness using a collection of body-based techniques. We have a shared belief that we’re all deserving of knowing our own value and self-worth. Our sessions promote empathy, resilience, kindness, and connection to build a strong mindset and body.
Calming tigers was developed in-house during lockdown and we recognised immediate benefits across our team. It then seemed a natural progression to take this solution to our wider community, partners, and organisations.
Our Wellbeing Coordinator Aisling Bent is leading calming tigers. Here is why she does it:
“My passion came from my own journey and my subsequent desire to help the Lullaby Lane Nurseries team manage daily anxieties. After years of using meditation for my own benefit as a relaxation technique, I decided to train as a mindfulness coach to assist others on their journey of relaxation and increase their ability to de-stress.”
Programmes offered by calming tigers:
- Mindfulness
- Yoga
- Positive Touch
- Laughter Therapy
- Wellbeing Days
Transformational Coaching – authentic tigers
Authentic tigers life coaching sessions, workshops and events align with our vision to reduce barriers and help others to develop their infinite potential.
We do this by offering a range of accelerated personal development solutions using rapid transformation tools, techniques and strategies.
The service will coach individuals and teams using neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) and other therapies to analyse how we organise our thinking, feelings, language, and behaviour and retrospectively our emotional intelligence to create successful outcomes.
Our Learning & Development Igniter, David Howie, is leading the development of authentic tigers. In 2008 he became a qualified Practitioner and in 2021 a Master Practitioner in NLP and other therapies. Here is why:
“After many years seeking the solution to my own battles with mental health I was introduced to neuro-linguistic programming. The real positive impact helped me to deal with life's challenges in a more balanced manner. From here, I developed an internal ‘must’ to help others to see life through a different lens and achieve more of what they want in life. People deserve to live life beyond limits.”
Programmes offered by authentic tigers:
- One-to-One Personal or Professional Coaching
- Personal or Professional Breakthrough Day Experience
- Team Stress Management & Development Days
- Goal Setting Sessions
- Time-Line Therapy Sessions
- Supreme Self Confidence Days
- Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP): Communication Skills Days & NLP basics.
“We strongly believe that we have a responsibility to create a culture that is safe and secure and encourages our team to bring their “whole self to work”. The introduction of calming tigers and authentic tigers has enabled us to do this. We are delighted that we are now able to offer these initiatives to our wider community to help inspire and support them to develop their infinite potential.”
Laura Devennie, Director of People and Culture, tigers
If you would like to learn more information about authentic tigers and calming tigers programmes, email us to arrange a call.
Joining forces with Morgan Sindall Construction to improve training
New joint venture to address challenges in the construction sector
Having partnered with Morgan Sindall Construction for over 10 years on various projects, we knew our vision for helping young people to reach their infinite potential was a shared one. Now we’re very excited to have the chance to take it one step further!
Our new joint venture (JV) will mean a seismic shift in the approach to training for the construction sector, addressing emotional health, suicide and gender imbalance, as well as general skills gaps and an ageing workforce. Already, 35 young people have joined our Pre-Apprenticeship Programme and are benefiting from the new JV!
What makes our new JV stand out?
We’re creating Modern Apprenticeship opportunities in Construction and Civil Engineering Operations at SCQF Level 5, within the Glasgow and South Ayrshire areas through our new bespoke Pre-Apprenticeship Programme.
We’ll also support the Foundation Apprenticeship model, bridging the gap between education and employment by delivering Civil Engineering and Craft frameworks. This will help a further 35 learners, all with aspirations to work within the construction sector.
“Already, 35 young people have joined our Pre-Apprenticeship Programme and are benefiting from the new joint venture.”
As with all of our training, we’ll be taking a progressive and holistic approach in this sector-leading JV to support young people to overcome social and emotional barriers. There will be a coaching and health and wellbeing programme woven through the training with activities like body based mindfulness, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), physical exercise and yoga.
We provide skills for the future and our new JV programmes will be no different. Not only will they be aligned with employer demand, they will also reflect the key aims set out by Construction Scotland and the Construction Recovery Plan, covering areas like Net Zero Carbon and digital construction skills. We’re pleased to be supported by partners like CECA, CITB, Construction Scotland Innovation Centre and Digital Construction Skills Scotland.
Our programmes will be delivered in areas local to key Morgan Sindall Construction Projects, like the Prestwick Education Campus and Maybole Community Campus. We’ll support a wide variety of supply chain contractors through the Shared Apprenticeship Scheme model, with many having voiced their support for this model to support them during the most challenging economic climate our nation has faced in recent history.
Want to get involved with the Pre-Apprenticeship Programme?
Email us to learn more.
Partnering with West College Scotland on mental health
Offering two new mental health training programmes
Here at tigers we’re passionate about Relationship Led Practice and supporting our team’s whole wellbeing is integral to us as a business. We know we thrive in secure, positive relationships and to do this we need to care for our mental health and ensure our workplace practises reflect its importance.
We are so excited to have a new opportunity to extend what we practise in our business to young people via our training! We’ll be working alongside West College Scotland to deliver Flexible Workforce Development Fund (FWDF) training in two key areas related to mental health.
Mental Health Awareness Training
We’ll share a course aimed at increasing young people’s understanding of how our mental health can impact our working environment and everyday lives. Young people will have the opportunity to learn more about trigger points and coping mechanisms. We’ll support them through a planned programme, encouraging independent learning, questions, problem-solving and team work.
“We know we thrive in secure, positive relationships and to do this we need to care for our mental health and ensure our workplace practises reflect its importance.”
Mental Health First Aid Training
This qualification will give young people the skills to recognise a wide range of mental health conditions and find out more about the support and therapy available from professional healthcare providers. While diagnosing and treating mental health conditions can only be carried out by healthcare professionals, we’ll give people the knowledge to spot when someone may have a condition and to know where they can go for help and support.
What we’ll cover
- Learning how to start a supportive conversation with someone experiencing mental health difficulties, and how and when to signpost to seek appropriate professional help.
- Understanding the impact of substance abuse on our mental health.
- Recognising stress and discovering how we can manage our stress levels.
- Understanding the first aid action plan for mental health and knowing how to put it in place.
- Learning how to implement a positive mental health culture in the workplace.
We can’t wait to begin working with West College Scotland, sharing mental health training, raising awareness through education and increasing skills in such an important area.
Our new plans to help women return to work
Introducing our exciting new contract!
Women have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, shouldering increased caring responsibilities, lost earnings and job losses. Here at tigers, we want to help as our vision is for a fair and inclusive world where equal opportunities exist for all.
With this in mind, tigers are delighted to be partnering with Skills Development Scotland on an exciting new programme, designed to support women returning to the job market, who have experienced unemployment for 6 months or more.
What we have planned
Research shows that digital skills are needed for almost every job, it is part of the Scottish Government’s ‘A changing nation: how Scotland will thrive in a digital world’. The strategy, published in March 2021, commented, ‘ensuring we have a strong digitally skilled workforce will be a key driver to inclusive economic growth’. This course will provide women returning to work with the composite skills required to gain employment and contribute to the wider economy.
“We want to play a part in addressing the gap between those with digital skills and those who experience digital exclusion.”
Steeped in the knowledge that significant learning and development only happens in the presence of secure, positive relationships, a key focus for tigers will be supporting women to develop digital skills and break down the barriers accessing employment. Our course will focus on experiential learning opportunities and a paid work placement, with the aim of moving to sustained employment.
A key element of this course will be to tackle digital exclusion faced by many women and advance towards our vision for a fair and inclusive world where equal opportunities exist for individuals, families and communities. We can’t wait to share more details as we work with women to help them return to work.
The Women Returners Programme is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Skills Development Scotland.