Many people often ask Options in Life staff about our wonderful employability group and how it works. We usually say that the group visits locations all over Fife for a number of weeks and the group learn the ins and outs of what it is like to work there by getting hands on experience.
From Zoo Keepers at Camperdown Zoo to Support Workers at Glenrothes Food Bank, the group experiences are varied to offer as many young adults the opportunity to find their passion in life.
The groups aim is to harness these passions and help individuals build experience to add to their CV so that they can one day find a paid or voluntary job in their desired field.
Each group usually has new faces and some people that have attended the group more than once, we even have volunteer buddies that support the new members to fit in and enjoy the experience.
With all this in mind, it still doesn’t tell people how fun and unique that each group day can be. We have therefore decided to visit the group periodically to find out what they are up to and share their story.
Wednesday 30th of March/ Week Six of Dundee Science Centre
Excitement was brewing, along with a bit of disbelief at how quickly the last six weeks had flown by. Our last day at Dundee Science Centre was in for a bit of a change! Our host, Alanna came to meet us on arrival at Dundee Art Centre for a lovely last week surprise- their sister centre Dundee Arts wanted to host an Art Experience day for us to learn the skills required to do ‘printing’.
Over the past six weeks we had been used to attending the science centre for practical work with exciting experiments, ranging from creating volcanos to taking DNA from strawberries, but today was something totally different for everyone.
We started at Dundee Arts Centre by learning and understanding the importance of colour mixing and the different ways colours can be influencing. Everyone then got to experiment with colours that they liked the most, by creating new ones, or keeping them plain. From the pastel shades of pinks and purples from Michelle, to the vibrant greens and yellows from Matthew, everyone had their own spin on what looked amazing.
This was very useful for the next step of the day. The printing background from Dundee Art Centre became apparent when we were shown how to roll and press different designs. We used a special piece of jelly to imprint on to paper. This was a great technique to learn and something that would come in handy for anyone with a creative streak, for being a hobby or maybe one day something to use in a workplace. We used different stamps, the ends of paint brushes and even fingers to get different and wonderful designs.
After our wonderful morning at the Dundee Art Centre, we returned to the Dundee Science Centre and the group got to fully explore everything on offer. The knowledge gained during our weeks there became apparent, from understanding how volcanos are formed, knowledge about planets and how the human body works. The group have truly become honorary science centre tour guides during this time and could confidently walk anyone around the centre and give demonstrations and answer questions. The group loved the creative nature of this course, how each week was different, the practical elements and the problem solving. A lovely experience in a fantastic centre. We are sure there might be some future science centre employees in our employability group!
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