Volunteer: Laura Meikle
Age: 19
Placement: Rathbone

“ProjectScotland has definitely done more for me than college, work experience or any other programme.”

Laura Meikle carried out her ProjectScotland placement at Rathbone, Glasgow.  She took on the responsibility of delivering training to young people who very often had not been successful in their secondary education. Laura took the time to understand their needs and requirements and was able to deliver training that was tailored specifically to their learning and support needs.

She decided that she would like to develop and deliver her own session on gang culture.  She researched the topic and wrote up a session plan which any training teacher would be proud of.  She then taught it very successfully. 

The training that Laura coordinated and delivered really contributed to the life skills of the young trainees she was working with and helped to make them more employable.

Laura came to ProjectScotland when she did not feel prepared to move into further education or work after completing the Get Ready for Work programme at Rathbone.

Her tutor, Sarah Mackenzie, suggested that becoming a ProjectScotland volunteer at Rathbone would be a good move for Laura: “I’d been a ProjectScotland volunteer myself and I knew that being given that responsibility is a totally different feeling to being on a training programme.”

Part of what makes Laura such a great trainer is that she has a similar background to most of the young people she helps. When Laura started on her placement she found that it was difficult to take on the role of ProjectScotland peer mentor: “I was still mucking about and not really doing what I was told, but then something just clicked in my head and I realised that if I actually wanted to get something out of this I had to become part of the team and not act like a trainee anymore.”

Once Laura had decided to commit to her placement everybody at Rathbone began to see a change in her and the quality of work that she produced.

Laura has now decided to pursue a career in training and has extended her time with Rathbone.  She continues to develop as a trainer and mentor to very challenging young people.  In the new year she hopes to go to college to study an access course to Social Care.