An initiative held outside the Scottish Parliament to demonstrate traditional building skills to young people has been attended and praised by South Scotland MSP, Martin Whitfield.

The event, which was organised by the Scottish Traditional Building Forum, involved young people working in the industry delivering mini-masterclasses to schoolchildren, including pupils from Galashiels Academy.

The demonstration was organised as part of the Build Your Future programme, an industry initiative involving collaborative working to promote the many and diverse careers within the construction sector.

Mr Whitfield chatted with some of the participants at the event, including the pupils from Galashiels, and also had an opportunity to try for himself some of the traditional skills being demonstrated.

Speaking after the event, Martin Whitfield MSP said:

“It was great to see pupils from Galashiels Academy and other schools in action having opportunities to try out some new building skills at this Scottish Traditional Building Forum event.

“It’s really important to do more to promote the many diverse career opportunities that are potentially out there in construction. The Build Your Future programme is a really important part of this work helping young people, parents and educators explore career opportunities in the Built Environment.

“Our economic prosperity depends on a strong, skilled workforce building Scotland’s future and I’m pleased that young people are being given chances like this to find out more about jobs they might not consider otherwise.”

 Find out more about Build Your Future at www.dyw.scot/buildyourfuture.html.