Celebrating the Year of Young People at SFHA Annual Conference
Blog by Sarah Boyack, SFHA Head of Public Affairs.
In April, the SFHA once again held its Apprentice Challenge – a competition for young people from housing associations and co-operatives across the country. However, this was the first time that it took place as its own standalone event – the Housing Scotland Apprentice Event.
The day was a great success. The conference saw Minister for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn MSP open the conference, and he commented that he was extremely impressed by the enthusiasm and drive of young apprentices working in the housing sector.
The Minister stated that he fully supports the SFHA Housing Apprentice Action Plan for Scotland which aims to encourage organisations in the housing sector to employ Modern Apprentices, helping to build a highly skilled workforce for the future. He also detailed the Scottish Government’s target to achieve 30,000 new apprenticeship starts by 2020.
It was great to see so many housing associations attend the event, many who already employ apprentices or expressed an interest in doing so in the future. The video above shows the day’s highlights.
At our Annual Conference this year, there is a workshop on succession planning. The workshop will highlight the importance of succession planning and why, as a sector, we need to invest in our staff to ensure they have the right skills and experience to continue delivering good quality housing services. This is important for the whole organisation – from chief executives and governing body members to senior staff, managers and those at the start of their housing career. Delegates will hear about succession planning from a number of different perspectives, including a former housing apprentice.
To continue our support of the Year of Young People, we are offering one apprentice per organisation a free place at this year’s SFHA Annual Conference, with the purchase of a minimum of a day delegate place.
The event is taking place at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow city centre on 12 and 13 June. Day delegate rates are from £270 for SFHA members and residential packages start at £560. You can also book three day delegate places and get a fourth free.
To book your place, please visit the what’s on section of the SFHA website.