Industry body Homes for Scotland (HFS) has presented a £12,000 cheque to youth charity The Prince’s Trust in Scotland in order to boost the vital work it undertakes to support unemployed young people into work, employment or training.

The impressive amount was raised by attendees of the organisation’s largest-ever Annual Lunch held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in May.

HFS has worked closely with the charity on its ‘Get into Home Building’ pre-apprenticeship programme, designed to help unemployed young people develop skills across a variety of trade disciplines including carpentry, plastering, brickwork and painting and decorating as well as offering hands-on work experience with HFS member companies.

Taking part in the cheque presentation at Taylor Wimpey’s Cameron Gardens site at Bilston, Midlothian, Jed Smith, one of the fourteen successful graduates of the 2014 programme who is currently working as a brickwork apprentice with the home builder, said: “I’ve always been around the construction industry and it’s exciting to know that I’m now part of it. The ‘Get into Home Building’ project gave me the chance to try all the trade disciplines but bricklaying was my favourite. Once I’d completed the project last year, I was thrilled to secure a four year Modern Day Apprenticeship with Taylor Wimpey which I’m really enjoying, and now I’m working towards passing my SVQ Level 3 in bricklaying.

“Having an apprenticeship with Taylor Wimpey is such an amazing opportunity and I’m looking forward to learning as much as I can to progress my career.”

Presenting the cheque to Daljit Singh, Senior Head of Private Sector Relationships at The Prince’s Trust in Scotland, HFS chief executive Philip Hogg said: “With very positive outcomes for the young participants of the ‘Get into Home Building’ programme as well as the industry in terms of addressing the skills shortage, I am delighted to present this cheque on behalf of Homes for Scotland in order to support the growth of future initiatives.

“The success of last year’s programme has enabled the course to be rolled-out more widely during 2015, and we hope that this donation will assist in opening up further opportunities for young people, specifically those focused on home building as a potential career path.”

Thirty-two young people are currently taking part in this year’s ‘Get into Home Building’ programme, with graduation events taking place in Edinburgh and Glasgow at the end of the month.