The Ayrshire Growth Deal team made a visit to Dumfries House on Friday – as they outlined their plans, strategies and vision to an American audience.
They were invited by Lake Forest Academy, Illinois, whose students were over in Scotland taking part in a week-long training and education programme at the facility in East Ayrshire.
During their stay they took in the range of different education centres at the 2,000-acre estate learning about sustainable textiles, hospitality, horticulture and farm-to-fork learning, while also visiting nearby Cumnock and Doon Valley and learning about their rich mining heritage.
At the end of week, members of the Growth Deal team visited to wrap up their visit with an overview of Ayrshire and how the Growth Deal is seeking to transform the economic prospects of the area.
Strategic Manager Graham Saunders, provided an overview, explaining how the Growth Deal works, the support from UK and Scottish governments and several local and regional partner organisations, including the three Ayrshire Councils.
Diarmid Turnbull, the Project Lead for the Community Renewable Energy (CoRE) Project explained how they are aiming to transform rural towns and villages in Cumnock and Doon Valley by tackling fuel poverty, making homes greener and more sustainable and ensuring our communities have the skills and qualifications to contribute to the low carbon sector supply chain.
Derek Johnstone, Lead Project Officer from South Ayrshire Council, spoke about SAC’s – Prestwick Proposition – which focuses on the work being done in the aerospace sector within the Prestwick Aerospace Cluster, one of Scotland’s most significant aerospace and aviation hubs. This programme consists of a suite of projects including the creation of new commercial space, a new skills and innovation centre, roads improvement projects, digital adoption, and upgrades.
Morgan Middlemiss, Project Lead for Skills, gave an overview of Ayrshire Innovation Park, and explained the issue of skill shortages and its impact on the future development of Ayrshire and the steps being taken to improve the matching of skills with jobs.
Graham Saunders said: “We’d like to thank the staff and the students for allowing us this opportunity which allowed us to shine a spotlight on the Ayrshire Growth Deal to a very different audience.”
“It was a really enjoyable morning and the interactive nature of it allowed the students to learn about how we in Ayrshire seek to regenerate our economy and communities. The students showed real interest and raised thoughtful questions. We can always learn from different viewpoints and perspectives, and we certainly got an interesting insight into the student’s views.”