An engineering apprentice from Tiree and a trainee tree surgeon from Glenrothes, both students at the Barony campus of Scotland’s Rural College outside Dumfries, have reached the finals of the prestigious LANTRA industry training awards.
Lantra is the sector skills council for land-based and environmental industries, working to ensure rural businesses access the training, qualifications, skills and knowledge they need. The chosen finalists will learn if they have won at the annual LANTRA awards ceremony in the Hilton Dunblane Hydro, on Thursday 5th March and which will recognise excellence and commitment
Fraser Maclean (24), from the Isle of Tiree, is nominated in the category for Land-based Engineering. Fraser completed his National Certificate in Land-based Engineering at SRUC Barony. During his work experience with CAM Engineering in Castle Douglas (Galloway) he so impressed the company that they offered him a modern apprenticeship.
Coming from Glenrothes Declan Brown (19) is entered in the Trees and Timber category. He initially found temporary ground maintenance work with
his local Fife Council who, seeing his potential gave him a trainability assessment in aerial tree work. He excelled at it and enrolled on the SVQ2 (Modern Apprenticeship) in Arboriculture.
The two Barony campus students will join five others nominated by SRUC’s Oatridge campus at Broxburn, just outside Edinburgh.
They include Ruairidh Mackinnon (19) from Oban who, having completed an SVQ Level 3 (Modern Apprenticeship) in Agriculture, has progressed to study for an HNC at SRUC’s Ayr Campus. Stirling’s Ryan Walker (21), who is completing a SVQ in Environmental Conservation alongside Ryan Binnie (18), also from Stirling, who is broadening his education and the experience originally acquired while working in the Fishery area of Stirling Council. From Cumbernauld, Iain MacNaughton (21) completed a Modern Apprenticeship Level 2 in Land-based Engineering and now is studying Level 3. Finally Ewan Lambie (18) from Auchterarder is completing a Higher National Certificate in Agriculture.
Barony and Oatridge contribute to the range of land-based courses SRUC offers at different levels, from Access courses up to degrees and postgraduate studies across six campuses. A number of our subject areas offer progression routes right through these levels of study.
