Green Routes – Life & Employability Skills

Green Routes, Stirling is based in the walled garden in Gargunnock. Green Routes offers life skills and employability skills to young people from McLaren High school to develop skills for life, learning and work. Young people attend weekly either in small groups or as individuals. McLaren High pupils have contributed to over 400 volunteering hours to this local charitable project.

Learning via practical horticulture skills such as path building, composting, hedge and grass cutting, stimming, and pruning, joinery skills; building raised beds, fences and bird boxes. Young people plan, problem solve and come up with the solutions in all their tasks.

The outdoor environment provides a creative, challenging environment that promotes maths, nature, science, english, health and wellbeing. Enables people to increase confidence, be determined, have the ability to see a job through, practice negotiation skills, time management, offers work experience, awareness of others, managing emotions, building positive relationships with staff and other users.  Further learning includes health and safety, dynamic risk assessments, peer learning/support in a safe supportive environment.

The young people that attend build their confidence and resilience, challenge their abilities, and contribute to building and working in a welcoming community project. When challenged with a task, young people work hard to see a job through, make positive choices, and if they don’t succeed first time, they keep trying all in a real life experiences.

Young people’s Feedback

One of my best days was when I cooked breakfast for all the others, I took orders, made the food and gave everyone a hot roll in the poll tunnel.

I like coming to Green Routes as it helps me to have a better week and do better in school

Staff highlight

It’s been great seeing the young people develop new skills, mature, engage with other students and take on responsibilities.