Amey launches unique initiative in secondary schools in Renfrewshire

Amey, a leading support services company today officially launched a unique initiative called Personal Best. The objective is to inspire and motivate young people who are not fulfilling their potential increase their educational attainment. The initiative was launched with the help of Scottish personality Andy Cameron and Ian Maxwell from St Mirren FC on behalf of Renfrewshire Council.

Personal Best will be implemented in four secondary schools on a monthly basis with the support of Renfrewshire Council, and in line with the Scottish Executive’s ‘Determined to Succeed’ initiative. The schools involved are  Gleniffer High, St Andrew’s Academy, St Benedict’s High and Linwood High.  Pupils will be given the opportunity to hear from successful businessmen, chief executives, politicians and entrepreneurs..  This initiative is designed to reward pupils who have shown improvement in their studies, either by demonstrating a change in attitude, increase in attainment or producing work that was previously thought beyond their capabilities.  

A maximum of fifteen pupils from each of the schools will be selected to attend and listen to the guest speakers deliver talks on the importance of education and training in addition to anecdotes of their own experiences followed by a Q&A session.  At each of the events in schools, to encourage the pupils with their academic work, there is a prize draw at the end of each session, giving pupils the chance to win laptops and other prizes.  Inspirational books are presented to each pupil who attends the event. 

Throughout the academic year, Amey will remain in contact with the attendees, the school and parents to provide further encouragement. Pupils who attend the events and have continued to maintain or increase their achievement will be invited to a dinner with a top table of guest speakers and representatives from Amey to celebrate their success. The first dinner will take place in March 2008 with a view to motivating the participants to approach their summer exams in a confident frame of mind.

The event is run by Gerry McCarron, FM Project Manager and Gemma Anderson, Communications Executive at Amey. Commenting on the initiative, Gerry said “We are delighted to be officially launching Personal Best and it’s great that Andy and Ian are here to support the initiative. The events have been running in our schools since January and have proved to be a big hit with both pupils and teachers.  The pupils who have attended the events so far have taken to the initiative with great enthusiasm and
clearly appreciate the input from the Scottish Business Community, the schools and Amey.  We hope to continue the success of the events into 2008/09. “

Over 35,000 young people in Scotland between the age of 16 and 19 are not in education, employment or training.  Sir Robert Smith, the Scottish Business in the Community Prince’s Ambassador in Scotland, is intending to persuade more businesses like Amey to tackle these issues and take social responsibility more seriously. It is hoped more companies will follow suit and launch initiatives that will engage young people in education and increase their employability. 

Personal Best has been running since January 2007.  To date there have been five events.

For any further information, questions or queries please contact:
Gemma Anderson, Communications Executive on 0141 810 9563 or
gemma.anderson@amey.co.uk or Lisa Watt, Flora Martin PR on 07903 206615/email lisawatt3@hotmail.com

Press Contacts