A near £500,000 donation has been made towards a new engineering and construction hub in Kilwinning to help train skilled trade workers.
A £499,999 has been committed to Ayrshire College for a new Future Skills Hub in Kilwinning, which is due to open in late 2021.
The hub will deliver a curriculum in engineering, construction and SMART technologies for employers, primary schools, secondary schools and college students with the new facility expected to provide first-class training in Ayrshire for generations.
The college has been given a major boost with the allocation of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) funding – allocated through the Magnox socio-economic scheme.
The major funding boost has been warmly welcomed.
Ayrshire College Principal Carol Turnbull said it was “marvellous news for the college students and all partners in the area”.
She added: “The Future Skills Hub will impact positively on key skills and employability opportunities for so many people across the community’.
Conservative councillor for Kilwinning John Glover told the Times: “I am so pleased about this as a boost for quality training and the construction industry, the place the college have had in Nethermains was a really old building.
“The money is to be paid in two payments of about £250,000. I’m absolutely over the moon about this.”
David Wallace, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority stakeholder relations and socioeconomics manager, said: “Support for this project has leveraged much-needed match-funding, which will help build a sustainable future long after the Hunterston A site has closed. These new facilities will prepare current and future generations for the employment opportunities generated by the Ayrshire Growth Deal.”
