Team celebrates Scottish Apprenticeship Week with new rural skills hires
March 2025
The first ever Rural Skills Modern Apprentices hosted by the Highland Perthshire Communities Land Trust (HPCLT) picked up their tools at Dùn Coillich Community Land today (March 3rd 2025).
Jamie Lean, 17, and Tony Marshall, 26, are both graduates of the Dùn Coillich Rural Skills Traineeship which has been running since 2016.
They’ve have now been accepted onto a brand new Modern Apprenticeship programme developed in partnership with HPCLT, Forestry and Land Scotland, National Trust for Scotland at Ben Lawers and the Dalchosnie & Kynachan Estate.
“Our new, year-long apprenticeship is an extension of our own long-running Rural Skills Training programme, designed to give young people further experience in rural land management skills, including forestry skills, deer management, estate maintenance, livestock care and visitor engagement,” said Heather Hamilton, Project Officer at HPCLT which manages Dùn Coillich Community Land.
“Thank to this new partnership, our apprentices will benefit from chance to work with a diverse range of organisations operating across multiple locations in Highland Perthshire, giving them a fantastic opportunity to engage with a wide variety of tasks, earn a wage, and gain an industry recognised qualification in rural skills at the same time.”
Backed by Rural Skills Scotland, the new scheme includes ongoing review from a Scottish Vocational Qualification assessor as well as full support from supervisors across the partner organisations. If they complete the training, Jamie and Tony will walk away with a Modern Apprenticeship in Rural Skills SCQF Level 5 – and hopefully into a new career!
Jamie and Tony’s apprenticeships are part funded by Perth and Kinross Council’s Employment Support Team, through their Futures For All – Employer Recruitment Incentive. Launched in August 2024, the programme has allocated a total of £448,000 towards the creation of 64 new job opportunities, including 33 apprenticeships, throughout Perth and Kinross.
A spokesperson for PKC commented, “A core focus of our programme is to ensure long-term job sustainability and roles that emphasise training and growth and we are delighted to join forces with employers like HPCLT who are committed to investing in the growth and development of their employees.”
“We want to say a big thank you for the widespread support we have received from our partners who worked so hard to create this innovative Apprenticeship model,” added Heather. “It will give young people an unrivalled opportunity to work with a wide range of organisations across the public, private and charity sectors.”
“We really need to attract new talent to safeguard the future of rural skills, and partnerships such as this demonstrate our united passion for investing in future career paths for aspiring individuals such as Jamie and Tony.”
Left to right back row: representatives from Forestry and Land Scotland, National Trust for Scotland, Dalchosnie & Kynachan Estate and Perth and Kinross Council’s Employment Support Team with Dùn Coillich’s Fred Cochrane and Heather Hamilton flanked by new apprentices Tony Marshall (left) and Jamie Lean.
