A RECORD grant of £9000 will help a Lochgelly social enterprise start a project will give ten teenagers the chance to learn key workplace skills.

Recycle Fife, the highly successful Cartmore Industrial Estate organisation, has got the backing of the 4Winds Trust to ‘recycle’ a disused JCB mechanical excavator which has been at the RF base for many years.

The LHS team will be expected to completely refurbish the old machine and get it into perfect working order over a period of between 13 and 20 weeks.

The Trust has been able to give the grant from the community fund to start the project which will see the youngsters, all pupils at Lochgelly High School, ‘recycle’ a disused machine. The Trust distributes the community fund from the Little Raith Wind Farm, south of Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly, and chairman of the 4WT, Stevie Murray, said this week that it was such a unique project the trustees felt it was well worth backing.

“Working with the staff of Lochgelly High, Recycle Fife will, through this project, give a team of ten young people the opportunity to learn important skills as they bring this old machine back to life so it can again be piece of working equipment,” he said. “The youngsters will have the expert help of Recycle Fife tradesmen and there will be a lot for them to learn from this project.” Recycle Fife’s, Frankie Hodge, said that the LHS team will get the chance to learn about hydraulics, how to repair an engine, as well as spray painting techniques and electrical work. Added Frankie, “I suppose you could say that the project is an extension of the school’s excellent Employability Initiative,where pupils are given key skills for the workplace.

“The JCB excavator has not turned a wheel really for around three years and we thought why not use it to give young people a chance to learn some skills which could prove important to them as they they think about their working life.

“Their job is to totally refurbish the excavator and have it shining and working perfectly in a period of between 13 and 20 weeks.

“They will be operating in a real working environment and will hopefully pick up skills which can help them make decisions on what they want to do when they leave school. We have to thank the 4Winds Trust for their support in this which is making it all happen.” Stevie Murray added that this was one of between 30 and 40 projects which the Trust has backed since it was set up at the end of 2013.

“We have something like £48,000 a year to disburse to deserving causes from the community fund and while normally the pay-out per application is between a few hundred to £1000, the trustees felt that this is such an unusual project which could help ten young local people, that it was worth backing.

“Over the past 18 months local gala committees, Christmas lights groups and a number of commumnity organisations have benefitted from grants totalling more than £50,000.” He urged any local cause which had a bank account and needed support to lodge an application.